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Forward slash

Notation
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 diagonal mark (/) used to indicate line breaks in quoted verse or alternative readings.

Detailed Definition
The forward slash preserves poetic lineation in prose contexts and may suggest ambiguity or simultaneity in meaning; in modern poetry, it can fracture syntax to mirror psychological or social fragmentation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Forward slashes separate alternatives: “his/her voice”; In lineation notation, / marks line breaks: “I wandered / lonely”; In hip-hop poetry, / indicates rhythmic breaks; Some poets use / as a visual divider: “past/present”; In digital poetry, / denotes directory paths metaphorically; In compact quotes, / replaces line breaks: “Hope is the thing / with feathers”.
Additional Notes
Forward slash: The forward slash (/), or virgule, is widely used in poetry scholarship to mark line breaks when quoting verse inline (e.g., “Shall I compare thee / to a summer’s day?”); it preserves metrical integrity in prose discussion—avoid overuse in original composition unless denoting alternatives or fragmentation.
Also Known As
slash virgule solidus (in typography) Solidus
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