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Dibrachic trimeter

Meter
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 three-foot line of dibrachs (two short or unstressed syllables per foot)

Detailed Definition
Dibrachic trimeter is a metrical line composed of three dibrachs (two short or unstressed syllables: ˘ ˘), totaling six syllables; extremely rare in English, it creates a light, skipping rhythm sometimes used in comic or children’s verse, though more common in classical prosody as a variant foot within mixed meters.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dibrachic trimeter: two-syllable feet, three per line; dibrach = two long syllables (¯ ¯); rare in English; classical example: “Strong men / Stand firm / Hold fast”; Modern approximation: “Steel beams / Hold dreams / Night screams”; Mostly theoretical in English prosody.
Additional Notes
Three-foot line with dibrachic (double-short) feet. Creates very light, rapid rhythm. Extremely rare in English. Experimental prosody. Compare with standard trimeter forms.
Also Known As
Three-foot pyrrhic Three-measure unstressed Trimetric double-short
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