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Hypodactylic pentameter

Meter
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 five-foot line beginning with a short syllable before a dactylic rhythm; it creates a gentle, rising start followed by the rolling movement of dactyls, offering rhythmic variety within pentameter.

Detailed Definition
Hypodactylic pentameter comprises five hypodactylic feet per line ( / u u u ), creating a fifteen-syllable line with a cascading, melodic rhythm; it is used sparingly in modernist or syllabic poetry to evoke breathlessness or natural cadence beyond conventional metrical constraints.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hypodactylic pentameter: Five hypodactylic feet (˘ ˘ ˘ ¯): “Over hills and through the valleys winds carried songs of spring” — rare, creating a rolling, extended rhythm.
Additional Notes
Dactylic pentameter with iambic substitution. Five feet with mixed dactyl/iamb. Related: pentameter, substitution. Study: effect of mixing falling and rising rhythms.
Also Known As
Shortened dactylic pentameter Reduced five-foot dactylic Deficient pentameter Under-extended five-foot
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