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Jumblies

Literary Character
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 fantastical people in Edward Lear’s poem who sail off in a sieve.

Detailed Definition
The Jumblies are Lear’s invented comic characters, known for their blue hands, green heads, and absurd voyage in a sieve. Readers may need identification because they are not real historical or mythological figures.
Example
Example in poetry:
Edward Lear’s “The Jumblies”: “They went to sea in a Sieve, they did”; “Far and few, far and few, / Are the lands where the Jumblies live”; Lear’s green-headed wanderers embody Victorian nonsense poetry; “They sailed away in a Sieve, they did” repeats the comic impossible voyage
Additional Notes
The quoted name refers to Lear’s invented characters, which readers may not recognize without context.; Found in the poem, The Jumblies by Edward Lear
Also Known As
nonsensicals absurdities oddities curiosities
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