Home › Glossary › Letter G

Grave accent

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

In prosody, a diacritical mark (ˋ) indicating a lowered pitch or, in some traditions, a stressed or long syllable.

Detailed Definition
Accent grave refers to a diacritical mark (`) placed over a vowel—typically in French, Italian, or occasionally English poetic contexts—to indicate a specific pronunciation, often a lower or more open vowel sound, and sometimes to distinguish between homographs or to mark syllabic stress in metrical analysis; in poetry, its presence can affect scansion and rhythm, especially when reading multilingual or translated works where prosody relies on precise vowel articulation.
Example
Example in poetry:
In French poetry, "è" in "père" indicates a grave accent, altering pronunciation and syllabic weight; In English prosody, the grave accent (`) may mark an unstressed syllable in scansion; Classical Greek used the grave accent to denote low pitch on final syllables; In metrical notation, a grave accent can signal a falling intonation in recitation

In classical prosody, the grave accent (ˋ) marks low pitch on a syllable; Used in Greek to indicate absence of acute accent on final syllables; In linguistic notation, distinguishes “è” from “é” in Romance languages; Marks an unstressed or lowered tone in poetic recitation

In French prosody, grave accent marks low pitch; In English, rarely used; Example: “learnèd” to indicate two syllables; Mostly relevant in classical scansion

A solemn, weighty poem; Milton’s “Samson Agonistes” as grave drama; Not to be confused with “grave accent”; Grave poetry addresses serious themes with dignity
Additional Notes
In prosody, the accent grave (`) typically indicates a low or falling pitch or an unstressed syllable; distinct from the acute accent (´), it is used in linguistic notation and classical scansion, especially in French, Greek, and sometimes in English metrical analysis to denote reduced stress

The grave accent (ˋ) in classical prosody denotes low pitch or absence of stress; in modern usage, distinguishes pronunciation in Romance languages (e.g., French “è”); not to be confused with the poetic grave as a tomb

Mark (`) indicating stressed syllable or pronunciation. French prosody especially. Related: accent marks, stress notation. Study: differences across languages in accent marking.

Grave is a metrical foot of one stressed syllable followed by three unstressed (opposite of molossus); extremely rare in English poetry, it appears mainly in theoretical discussions of classical metrics.
Also Known As
low pitch mark unstressed accent prosodic grave Grave accent (prosody) accent grave low tone mark unstressed indicator classical grave Stress mark metrical marker emphatic accent Serious tone Solemn register Low pitch Heavy accent Solemn Somber Grave
Skip to main content