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Epitaph

Genre
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 brief commemorative poem or inscription honoring a deceased person, typically concise, dignified, and placed on a tomb or memorial.

Detailed Definition
Epitaph is a brief commemorative poem inscribed on a tombstone or written in memory of the dead, typically concise, poignant, and reflective; it distills a life into a few lines, often using paradox, prayer, or humble assertion of mortality.
Example
Example in poetry:
Epitaph: Gray’s “Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth”; Dickinson’s self-penned: “Called back”; Ben Jonson’s “On My First Son”: “For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such / As what he loves may never like too much”; Contemporary epitaphs blend humor and grief: “Gone fishing—permanently”; Epitaphs distill a life into resonant finality.
Additional Notes
Inscription for grave or commemorative text. Brief, memorial. Often witty or poignant. Famous examples: Yeats, Frost self-epitaphs. May be fictional. Related: epitaphic verse, memorial poetry.
Other Meanings of “Epitaph”
Also Known As
Tombstone verse Grave inscription Memorial epitaph Burial writing
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