Epithonema

Device
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 concluding moral maxim, aphorism, or sententious remark that caps a poem, offering wisdom, judgment, or thematic summation in classical tradition.

Detailed Definition
Epithonema is a rhetorical summation or concluding statement that gathers a poem’s themes into a final, emphatic declaration; often used in epideictic or ceremonial verse, it provides closure with heightened eloquence or moral insight.
Example
Example in poetry:
Greek term for concluding summary; In didactic poems, epithonema wraps argument; Modern example: “Thus ends my song of broken glass— / Remember, beauty cuts.”; Epithonema functions like epilogue in narrative verse.
Additional Notes
Closing moral or summary at poem's end. Greek rhetorical term. Epigram-like conclusion. Adds interpretive frame. Related: sententia, gnome. Study: how it shifts meaning.
Also Known As
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