Home › Glossary › Letter I

Ionic verse

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

Verse constructed using Ionic meter, typically featuring metrical feet of two long followed by two short syllables (or the reverse).

Detailed Definition
Ionic verse: Poetry employing the Ionic metrical foot (four syllables: two shorts followed by two longs, or vice versa), creating a rolling, fluid cadence historically associated with joyous or processional themes in Greek lyric poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ionic verse: Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” in ionic meter; Poems mimicking ionic rhythm for fluid themes; “Ionic waves lap at the poem’s edges”; Modern verse using ionic to evoke ancient femininity; Eco-poetry: “Ionic currents in ocean’s verse”; Contemporary lyrics reviving ionic for musicality
Additional Notes
Poetry using Ionic meter throughout. Rare in English; more common in classical Greek. The sustained long-short pattern creates distinctive rhythm. Experimental form for contemporary poets interested in quantitative verse.
Also Known As
Greek double-foot verse Ionic meter poetry Long-short verse
Skip to main content