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fingering

Noun
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 light touching or moving over something with the fingers; here, a delicate, suggestive touch.

Detailed Definition
As a noun, fingering can mean the act of touching or moving over something with the fingers. In this poem it personifies moonlight as if it were gently feeling the blossoms, giving the scene an intimate, tactile quality.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Under the pallid moonlight’s fingering” personifies moonbeams as delicate touching fingers; “Her fingering of the keys woke dust from the piano” means the action of moving fingers across an instrument; In musical poetry, “the guitarist’s fingering faltered” can suggest technique and emotion together; The noun may be sensual or tactile, so surrounding imagery determines whether it means touch, handling, or musical performance
Additional Notes
“fingering” is used in an unusual poetic sense here, not the everyday action most readers expect.; Found in the poem, A Love Song by D. H. Lawrence
Also Known As
touching caressing stroking handling
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