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Onion

Food And Drink
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 pungent bulb with many layers, associated with tears, kitchens, and humble nourishment. It can symbolize concealment, complexity, and endurance.

Detailed Definition
Onion is a versatile poetic object because its papery skin, concentric layers, and tear-inducing scent all invite metaphor. A speaker chopping onions may be performing ordinary domestic work while unexpectedly confronting grief or memory. The onion's ability to flavor countless dishes also makes it a symbol of supporting labor, often unnoticed but essential. Growing beneath the soil and storing well through winter, it can represent resilience, thrift, and the complicated inner life hidden beneath an unremarkable exterior.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to the Onion” praises the onion’s humble beauty and “luminous” layers; “I peeled the onion slowly, each skin a year I could not keep” makes peeling a metaphor for memory; An onion’s tears can symbolize grief, as in “the cutting board filled with the tears I blamed on onions”; “The onion waited in its paper dress” personifies an ordinary vegetable
Additional Notes
Onion’s layers and tear-inducing scent make it useful for images of hidden feeling, hardship, and domestic care.
Also Known As
Common Onion Bulb Onion
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