Home › Glossary › Letter C

crystalline phrase

Phrase
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

Language characterized by clarity, precision, and refractive beauty

Detailed Definition
Crystalline phrases cut through ambiguity with sharp diction and clean syntax; they celebrate transparency and formal perfection, often in neoclassical or imagist modes where every word must gleam with exactitude.
Example
Example in poetry:
The phrase was clear as ice under moonlight; each word a crystal, each syllable a facet; it refracted truth without distortion; it held the world in a single, unbroken gleam.
Additional Notes
Crystalline phrases are precise, clear, and refractive: “Each word a crystal, each syllable a facet”; they reflect truth without distortion, as in Marianne Moore or Elizabeth Bishop; avoid coldness—clarity can still hold warmth; use concrete imagery and exact diction; related to crystalline metaphor and silver phrase; ideal for poems of observation, science, or quiet revelation.
Also Known As
crystalline imagery clear phrase precise phrase
Skip to main content