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coterie cant

Concept
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

Exclusive language used by a small, intimate literary or social circle

Detailed Definition
Coterie cant refers to specialized, often coded language used within a small, exclusive group of poets or literary insiders to signal membership, shared aesthetics, or intellectual alignment; this private lexicon may include neologisms, allusions, or stylistic tics unintelligible to outsiders, functioning as both creative shorthand and social boundary marker.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Metaphysical poets used terms like “wit,” “conceit,” and “syllogism” understood only by literary insiders; The Dymock Poets (Edward Thomas, Robert Frost) shared rural lexicon like “harrow,” “copse,” and “throstle”; Harlem Renaissance writers used “jive” expressions like “hep cat” or “solid” within their circle; Modernist circles used “mythical method” or “objective correlative” as coterie shorthand
Additional Notes
Coterie cant refers to coded language within literary or social circles (e.g., Metaphysical poets’ “wit”); helps build group identity but can alienate outsiders; useful for historical study; modern equivalents include academic or subcultural jargon
Also Known As
Clique dialect literary argot circle jargon in-group lexicon Jargonelle
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