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Colloquial language

Diction
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

Informal speech patterns and vocabulary used in poetry for authenticity or immediacy

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Harlem Renaissance Poetry — Harlem Renaissance poetry brought new visibility to Black voices without settling on a single style or message. Explore its historical roots, varied forms and musical connections, with practical ways to read and listen closely.

Detailed Definition
Colloquial language in poetry refers to the use of informal, everyday speech patterns, idioms, contractions, and regional expressions to create authenticity, immediacy, and relatability; it grounds verse in lived experience, as seen in the works of Robert Frost, Philip Larkin, or contemporary spoken-word poets who reject formal diction.
Example
Example in poetry:
Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” uses dialect and everyday phrasing: “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”; Philip Larkin’s “This Be The Verse” opens bluntly: “They fuck you up, your mum and dad”; Charles Bukowski’s poems mimic barroom speech with raw, unfiltered diction; Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool” captures teenage vernacular: “We / Left school. We / Lurk late.”
Additional Notes
Colloquial language in poetry uses informal, everyday speech patterns to create authenticity, intimacy, or realism; contrasts with aristocratic or elevated diction—key in conversational poetry and plain diction.
Also Known As
Informal diction vernacular speech common tongue everyday idiom conversational language Vernacular
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