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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 young male attendant in a noble household, often in training for knighthood or service

Detailed Definition
The page appears in poetry as a figure of youth, service, and nascent identity. Historically performing errands and learning courtly manners, pages occupied the first rung of aristocratic life. In verse, they symbolize potential, loyalty, and the socialization of class. Poets use pages to explore themes of growth, observation, and the transition from innocence to experience within rigid hierarchies.
Example
Example in poetry:
In medieval court poetry, the page attends nobles with youthful grace; Shakespeare’s histories depict pages carrying messages and armor; Victorian poets revive pages in nostalgic verse on vanished ceremony; The page in Tennyson’s Arthurian poems trains for knighthood; Pages appear in masquerade odes bearing torches and trays; Their livery symbolizes service and potential.
Additional Notes
Pages were young boys in noble households, training in service, arms, and etiquette—stepping stones to knighthood or court careers—poetic pages symbolize youth, loyalty, or apprenticeship; their presence marks scenes of education, ceremony, or nascent identity in courtly verse.
Also Known As
attendant page boy
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