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metrical foot

Meter
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 basic unit of rhythm in poetry, consisting of a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables

Detailed Definition
A metrical foot is the basic unit of measurement in poetry’s meter, consisting of a specific combination of stressed and unstressed syllables, such as an iamb or trochee.
Example
Example in poetry:
Iamb (unstressed-stressed) appears in Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee”; Trochee (stressed-unstressed) in Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing”; Dactyl (stressed-unstressed-unstressed) in Longfellow’s “This is the forest”; Anapest (unstressed-unstressed-stressed) in Byron’s “The Assyrian came down”; Spondee (stressed-stressed) in Milton’s “Rocks, caves, lakes”; Pyrrhic (unstressed-unstressed) rarely used alone but within lines.
Additional Notes
Metrical foot is the basic rhythmic unit (e.g., iamb, trochee). Related to stress point and prosodic replacement. Master by clapping or tapping—identify feet in natural speech to internalize patterns before applying to scansion.
Also Known As
Rhythmic unit Metric unit Prosodic foot Stress unit Metrical unit
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