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Foehn

Weather
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 warm, dry wind that blows down the sheltered side of mountains.

Detailed Definition
A foehn is a warm, dry wind produced when air descends from mountains and becomes compressed and heated. Common in the Alps and similar mountain regions, it can bring startling warmth after cold, damp weather. Poets may use the foehn to emphasize transformation, restlessness, or a landscape suddenly stripped of snow and haze. Its foreign, airy name can also lend a poem a sense of altitude, distance, and unsettled weather.
Example
Example in poetry:
The foehn descended from the mountains, warm and restless in the valley; Because a foehn is a dry, warm wind on the sheltered side of a mountain range, it can signal rapid change; The speaker blames the foehn for sleeplessness and a mind made sharp with weather; A poet might use foehn to contrast the cold summit with unexpected warmth below
Additional Notes
Foehn names a warm, dry downslope wind, similar to a chinook. Use it for rapid weather change or mountain landscapes.
Other Meanings of “Foehn”
Also Known As
Föhn Foehn Wind Snow-Eater
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