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Lyric song

Form
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 short, musical poem expressing personal emotion, often song-like in quality

Detailed Definition
Lyric song is a short, melodic poem expressing personal emotion or reflection, often structured for musicality through rhyme, meter, and refrain; rooted in ancient Greek lyre-accompanied verse, it prioritizes subjective experience, sensory detail, and rhythmic fluidity over narrative.
Example
Example in poetry:
Sappho’s fragments set to lyre music; Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” as modern lyric song; A folk ballad like “Barbara Allen”; A poem structured like a pop song: verse-chorus-verse with refrain
Additional Notes
Lyric song emphasizes personal emotion and musicality, often with regular meter and rhyme; historically sung, now used broadly for expressive short poems.
Also Known As
lyric chant melodic verse songlike stanza musical ode Lyre verse Song lyric
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