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Hostage

Military
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 person held to compel another party to meet a demand. In poetry, the word can express captivity, leverage, vulnerability, and lives turned into bargaining pieces.

Detailed Definition
A hostage is detained by a force that threatens harm or continued confinement in order to influence a government, group, or individual. The hostage’s body becomes a message addressed to someone else, making the term especially powerful in poems about political violence and helplessness. It may also function metaphorically for a person held by fear, memory, loyalty, or circumstance. The word demands attention to the captive’s humanity, resisting any treatment of a life as merely an instrument of negotiation.
Example
Example in poetry:
The hostage counted the bells, using each distant note to measure another hour; A poem about captivity may present the hostage’s imagination as a form of resistance; The speaker calls memory a hostage when the past refuses to be released; By giving the hostage a voice, the poet can explore fear, endurance, and moral uncertainty.
Additional Notes
A hostage is held against their will to force another person, group, or government to act. The term highlights coercion and turns a human life into leverage. In poetry, distinguish hostage from prisoner: a prisoner may be detained as punishment or during war, while a hostage is specifically used to pressure others. Related concepts include ransom, captivity, and bargaining.
Also Known As
Captive Pawn
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