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Dot above

Notation
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 diacritic (˙) placed over a letter to modify pronunciation or stress in certain languages.

Detailed Definition
The dot above appears in Irish, Lithuanian, or transliterated Arabic to indicate lenition or emphasis; in poetry, it ensures correct phonetic delivery, influencing syllabic weight and rhythmic flow, especially in bilingual or phonetically meticulous compositions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dot above appears in Arabic transliteration: “ḍ” in “ḍaww” (light); In linguistic poetry, dot above marks emphatic consonants; Poets using Urdu or Persian retain dot-above letters for authenticity; In phonetic notation, [ṫ] with dot above indicates aspiration; Some experimental poets use dot above as a diacritic for emphasis; In scholarly editions, dot above preserves source-language sounds.
Additional Notes
Dot above: The dot above (˙) is a diacritic used in phonetic notation (e.g., for retroflex consonants) or in Irish orthography; in poetic analysis, it may signal stress, tone, or syllabic weight—particularly useful when transcribing oral or non-Latin-script poetry into scholarly editions.
Also Known As
overdot
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