Home › Glossary › Letter P

Paratactic tercet

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 stanza using coordination rather than subordination between lines

Detailed Definition
Paratactic tercet is a three-line stanza structured by parataxis—juxtaposing phrases or clauses without subordinating conjunctions—creating a staccato, accumulative effect that emphasizes equality of images or ideas and invites the reader to infer connections through proximity alone.
Example
Example in poetry:
Paratactic tercet in William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”; three-line stanzas without conjunctions in Lorine Niedecker; paratactic tercets in George Oppen; contemporary example: Layli Long Soldier’s “38” using paratactic tercets
Additional Notes
Three-line stanza using parataxis (coordinate clauses without subordination). Each line carries equal weight. Contrast with hypotactic tercet. Creates immediacy and accumulative rather than hierarchical meaning.
Also Known As
Coordinate tercet And-connected triplet Parallel three-line Paratactic trio
Skip to main content