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Clipper

Transport
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A fast nineteenth-century sailing ship with tall masts and narrow lines. It can evoke trade winds, ambition, and oceanic distance.

Detailed Definition
A clipper is a swift sailing vessel, especially associated with the nineteenth-century trade routes that carried tea, wool, gold seekers, and emigrants across vast oceans. Its sharp bow and towering sails make it a powerful poetic image of speed under natural force. A clipper may represent commercial hunger, imperial expansion, or the courage of departure. In lyric description, its canvas can shine like cloud, while its wake marks a temporary line through immense water.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The clipper spread white sails like pages in a gale,” connects a fast sailing ship with language and travel; In a poem about trade, a clipper can carry tea, silk, or letters between distant worlds; “Our hopes were a clipper racing before the storm,” makes speed a metaphor for ambition; A historical poem may contrast the clipper’s elegance with the harsh labor of its crew
Additional Notes
A clipper belongs to the age of sail and global trade. Its speed can contrast with the long distances, danger, and exploitation behind commerce.
Also Known As
Clipper Ship
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