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dactylic tendency

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

A poem’s inclination toward dactylic rhythm without strict adherence

Detailed Definition
Dactylic tendency describes a poem’s rhythmic inclination toward dactylic patterns without strict adherence to full dactylic meter; it may appear in mixed-meter lines where dactyls dominate, lending a falling, lyrical quality to the verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dactylic tendency: Poems tending toward dactylic meter though not strictly so; Longfellow’s “Evangeline” showing dactylic rhythm; Lines favoring falling meters with long-short-short beats; Poetry with occasional dactylic substitutions in iambic lines
Additional Notes
dactylic tendency: The inclination of a poem's meter to favor dactylic feet (–∪∪) or dactylic-like patterns, even if it is not strictly dactylic throughout; related to a triple-time feel.
Also Known As
Dactylic inclination Falling rhythm preference Triple-meter tendency Descending pattern
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