Home › Glossary › Letter L

Lipogram

Form
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

A constrained poetic form that deliberately excludes a specific letter of the alphabet throughout, showcasing linguistic ingenuity and limitation.

Detailed Definition
A Lipogram is a constrained writing form that deliberately omits a specific letter (e.g., Georges Perec’s novel without “e”); in poetry, this technique heightens linguistic creativity, forcing inventive substitutions and drawing attention to the absent letter’s phonetic or symbolic weight, turning limitation into expressive innovation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Lipogram: “Gadsby” novel without letter E; “Sonnet avoiding all vowels except A” (constraint); “Poem without the letter ‘s’—hissless” (exercise); “Lipogram on ‘e’: ‘Moon above, cold and bright’” (example)
Additional Notes
Composition deliberately omitting specific letter(s). Related to constrained writing and Oulipo. Famous example: Perec's novel without 'e'. Study tip: Try writing lipogrammatic lines to understand creative challenge.
Also Known As
constrained writing letter avoidance
Skip to main content