Home › Glossary › Letter D

Dactyloid

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 foot or line dominated by dactyls but with occasional substitutions or truncations.

Detailed Definition
Dactyloid describes verse that approximates dactylic rhythm without strict adherence, using predominantly falling stresses (long-short-short) to evoke solemnity, procession, or nostalgia; common in hymns, elegies, and narrative poetry, dactyloid lines create a rolling, wave-like cadence that contrasts with the rising energy of iambic meter, as in the funereal pace of Arnold’s “Dover Beach.”
Example
Example in poetry:
Verse approximating dactylic rhythm without strictness: “This is the forest primeval…” (Longfellow’s trochaic/dactylic blend); Whitman’s rolling cadences; Modern: free verse with dactylic leanings for epic tone
Additional Notes
Resembling but not strictly dactylic meter. Flexible dactyl-like rhythm. Study tip: Count syllables loosely; expect variations on stressed-unstressed-unstressed pattern throughout.
Also Known As
Dactylic variant Dactylic form Finger-like meter Triple-fall rhythm
Skip to main content