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cowran

Dialect
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 dialect word meaning cowering or crouching timidly, often suggesting fear, submission, concealment, or an animal-like posture.

Detailed Definition
This Scots dialect word suggests a hunched, shrinking posture. In the poem it adds to the mouse’s frightened, vulnerable image.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie” (Robert Burns) addresses a cowering little creature; Cowran is Scots dialect for crouching or trembling; “The cowran hare slipped under broom” preserves the word’s fearful physical posture; Burns’s dialect makes sympathy sound local and intimate rather than abstract
Additional Notes
“cowran” is a Scots form in the opening description and is not standard modern English.; Found in the poem, To a Mouse by Robert Burns
Also Known As
cower crouch huddle
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