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Feeling-laden words

Concept
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

Words chosen for their strong emotional connotations—such as “grief,” “bliss,” or “rage”—to directly evoke feeling in the reader.

Detailed Definition
Vocabulary, terms, and language heavily charged with emotional content, affective power, or feeling-laden connotations. These words carry emotional weight beyond their denotative meanings—"haunting," "crushing," "tender," "piercing"—chosen for their capacity to evoke and express feelings. Feeling-laden words create emotional atmosphere, establish lyric tone, and generate reader empathy. They contrast with neutral vocabulary and are essential to poetry's affective function, particularly in Romantic and Confessional traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” uses “burn bright” as feeling-laden words; Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” uses “Mourners” and “Drum” as feeling-laden; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” uses “black shoe,” “vampire,” “bastard” as feeling-laden; Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me” uses “born,” “hands,” “voice” as feeling-laden; Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” uses “ghost,” “father,” “afraid” as feeling-laden; Warsan Shire’s “Home” uses “mouth of a shark” as feeling-laden.
Additional Notes
Creates emotional atmosphere and reader empathy. Central to lyric poetry's affective power. Consider how such words influence tone and mood throughout a poem.
Also Known As
Emotive vocabulary Affective words Charged language Feeling-rich terms Emotive diction
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