Home › Glossary › Letter E

equal-weight rhythm

Meter
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 rhythmic pattern in which each syllable or foot carries nearly equal stress or weight, producing a steady, chant-like cadence.

Detailed Definition
Metrical rhythm where syllables, feet, or rhythmic units carry equivalent emphasis or duration, creating sense of rhythmic stability and predictability. In quantitative meter, this refers to equal syllable duration, while in accentual meter it describes evenly distributed stresses. The equal weighting creates rhythmic regularity and formal coherence, distinguishing structured verse from free verse's variable rhythmic patterns.
Example
Example in poetry:
Classical dactylic hexameter maintains equal-weight rhythm through quantitative meter; English iambic pentameter approximates equal-weight through stress; Walt Whitman’s free verse uses parallel phrasing for equal-weight rhythm; Langston Hughes’s jazz poems use syncopated but balanced rhythms; Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We Real Cool” uses equal-weight beats per line; Contemporary spoken word often uses equal-weight rhythm for emphasis.
Additional Notes
Technical metrical term referring to stress distribution in quantitative or accentual verse. Creates sense of rhythmic stability and predictability. Important for understanding traditional English meter.
Also Known As
Isometric rhythm Proportional stress Balanced measure Equipollent meter
Skip to main content