Home › Glossary › Letter C

Consonantal meter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 metrical system based primarily on consonant patterns rather than vowel stress or syllable count

Detailed Definition
Consonantal meter is a prosodic system based on the regular recurrence of consonant patterns rather than vowel stress or syllable count, prominent in early Hebrew, Arabic, and some Old English verse; it creates rhythm through alliteration and consonant clustering (e.g., “stone stands still”), producing a percussive, incantatory effect that prioritizes sonic texture over metrical feet.
Example
Example in poetry:
Old English alliterative verse (e.g., “Beowulf”) uses consonantal meter: “Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum”; Icelandic rímur emphasize consonant patterns over stress; modern example: Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “sprung rhythm” prioritizes alliterative consonants; Anglo-Saxon poetry counts stressed syllables linked by initial consonant sounds.
Additional Notes
Consonantal meter emphasizes consonant patterns over vowel sounds or stress; more common in Hebrew and Arabic poetry but can appear in English through alliterative verse or sound-driven experimental work.
Also Known As
Consonance-based meter alliterative rhythm consonantal verse sound-patterning meter Alliterative meter Consonantal measure
Skip to main content