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Major Ionic

Foot
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 classical metrical foot of four syllables: long-long-short-short, or stressed-stressed-unstressed-unstressed

Detailed Definition
Major Ionic is a classical metrical foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables followed by two short (or unstressed) syllables (– – υ υ), rarely used in English but occasionally adapted for rhythmic variation; its rolling, expansive quality can evoke grandeur or solemnity, appearing in translations of Greek drama or experimental prosody seeking to expand English’s metrical palette.
Example
Example in poetry:
Major Ionic: "Over the mountains / and far away"; "Beautiful, terrible / dawn breaks slow"; "Gather the roses / while you may"; "Merrily, merrily / life is but a dream"
Additional Notes
Classical foot: two long syllables followed by two short (– – ∪ ∪). Also called "greater ionic." Related: minor ionic, classical meter. Rare in English; creates weighty, ceremonial rhythm in quantitative verse.
Also Known As
Long-long-short-short Greater Ionic Double-long foot Ionic a maiore
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