Home › Glossary › Letter E

Echois

Mythology
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

Alternative or dialectal name for Echo, the Oreiad nymph cursed by Hera to only repeat the last words of others after she distracted the goddess with chatter.

Detailed Definition
Echois is a variant name for Echo, the Oread who pined for Narcissus and faded to a voice. Her myth explains the acoustic phenomenon of echo. Poets use Echois to symbolize unfulfilled desire, the fragmentation of voice, and the haunting persistence of memory in pastoral and elegiac verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Echois, likely a variant or error (possibly “Echo”); assuming intended as Echo, the nymph who pined for Narcissus; Poets use Echo to symbolize voice without body or unrequited repetition; In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, her fragmentation mirrors poetic fragmentation; “Echo’s cave” might describe hollow communication; Her myth suits poems about longing and linguistic limitation.
Additional Notes
Echois is a rare variant of Echo, the Oread cursed by Hera to only repeat others’ words after aiding Zeus’s affairs. She pines for Narcissus, fading to a voice. Ovid’s Metamorphoses immortalizes her as the voice of longing and absence. Poets use “Echo” (or Echois) to explore voice, repetition, and the fragmentation of self—central to pastoral, elegiac, and modernist poetic techniques.
Also Known As
echoing nymph voice spirit Narcissus lament
Skip to main content