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Jaw

Anatomy
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

The hinged bone structure of the mouth, often associated with speech, hunger, tension, or restraint.

Detailed Definition
In poetry, the jaw can make emotion visible through physical pressure: a clenched jaw may suggest anger, fear, endurance, or words held back. It also participates in eating and speech, connecting appetite to language. Poets may describe an animal's jaw to evoke danger or survival, or a human jaw to register family resemblance and aging. Because it is both strong and vulnerable, the jaw can sharpen portraits of struggle, silence, and bodily determination.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The jaws of death” gives death the predatory force of an animal; “His jaw tightened” can show anger or restraint through a small bodily detail; A poet might write “the cliff opened its jaw above the tide” to make landscape threatening; “Winter set its jaw against the field” can personify cold as stubborn resistance
Additional Notes
The jaw can convey physical pressure and unspoken feeling. A clenched jaw may imply anger or restraint, while an open jaw can suggest hunger, shock, laughter, or the beginning of speech.
Also Known As
Mandible
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