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Hemipes

Foot
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

Half of a metrical foot, typically used in classical prosody to describe incomplete or truncated measures

Detailed Definition
Hemipes denotes half a metrical foot and is primarily a technical term in classical prosody, especially in the analysis of Greek and Latin verse where feet are quantitatively measured; it rarely applies directly to English poetry but may describe syllabic fragments in catalectic lines or serve as a theoretical construct when scanning irregular or transitional metrical passages.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hemipes refers to half a metrical foot, often used in catalectic lines; In Greek iambic trimeter, a hemipes may truncate the final syllable; Latin poets use hemipes to create abrupt endings for emphasis; In English, a line like “Stop!” could be seen as a hemipes of a trochee; It’s common in choral lyric where dance rhythms require shortened beats; Hemipes contributes to rhythmic variety in strophic poetry.
Additional Notes
Hemipes: Half of a metrical foot or half-foot, used in analytical prosody to describe incomplete or transitional rhythmic units; helpful when discussing catalexis or irregular line endings in Greek lyric or dramatic verse.
Also Known As
Hemipes foot
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