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Hyacinth

Flora
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 fragrant spring flower with dense clusters of blue, pink, or white blooms, tied to Greek myth.

Detailed Definition
Hyacinth symbolizes grief, rebirth, and the beauty born of loss in poetry. In myth, it sprang from Apollo’s tears for Hyacinthus, linking it to tragic love and divine sorrow. Its intense fragrance and early bloom make it a potent emblem of memory and renewal.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hyacinth appears in Greek myth poetry as flower from Hyacinthus’s blood: “Hyacinth blooms where Apollo’s discus fell”; In T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” it’s lost innocence: “You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; / They called me the hyacinth girl”; In Persian verse, it symbolizes spring and sorrow; Modern poets admire its dense fragrance: “Hyacinth scent fills the room like a ghost”; In color poetry, its blue is deep: “Hyacinth blue—midnight’s softer cousin”; In garden verse, it’s early spring’s jewel: “Hyacinth pushes through March’s last frost.”
Additional Notes
Hyacinth, from Greek myth (Apollo’s beloved Hyacinthus), symbolizes sorrow, rebirth, and rashness; its dense, fragrant spikes bloom in spring—often in deep purple; in Christian contexts, it signifies prudence; note “water hyacinth” is unrelated (aquatic invasive)—clarify to avoid confusion.
Other Meanings of “Hyacinth”
Also Known As
Common Hyacinth Dutch Hyacinth
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