Home › Glossary › Letter D

Duration indicator

Notation
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 prosodic symbol used to signify the relative length of a syllable in classical versification

Detailed Definition
A duration indicator in prosody is a diacritical mark or notational symbol (such as the macron ¯) used in classical metrics to denote a long syllable, essential for scanning quantitative verse in Greek, Latin, or Arabic poetry where syllable length—not stress—determines meter.
Example
Example in poetry:
A macron (¯) over a vowel in Latin scansion: “ā” to indicate a long “a”; in Greek prosody, “η” marked with a macron to show length; in teaching dactylic hexameter, “— ∪ ∪” with long marks over first syllables; in reconstructed pronunciation guides for classical poetry
Additional Notes
Duration indicator: A symbol or notation (e.g., macron or breve) used in prosody to mark syllable length in quantitative meters; essential for scanning classical Greek, Latin, or Arabic verse.
Also Known As
Syllabic length marker Metrical time sign Quantitative notation Macron
Skip to main content