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Pentasyllable

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 metrical unit or line of five syllables, common in Japanese forms and English light verse

Detailed Definition
Pentasyllable refers to a five-syllable line or segment, foundational in haiku and tanka and used in English for brevity and lyrical focus; while not a standard foot, it appears in glossaries because such lines often combine iambs, anapests, or amphibrachs, and poets use pentasyllabic phrasing to create rhythmic contrast within longer metrical structures.
Example
Example in poetry:
A pentasyllable is a five-syllable word or line segment, such as “unbelievable” in modern verse; In Latin, “incredibilis” serves as a pentasyllabic unit in hexameter; English nursery rhymes often use pentasyllabic lines: “Hickory dickory dock”; Poets may use pentasyllables to fill metrical gaps or create emphasis; In Greek, compound names like “Achilleus” are pentasyllabic in certain dialects; Pentasyllables challenge strict metrical schemes, requiring adaptation.
Additional Notes
Pentasyllable: A word or line of five syllables; in prosody, may refer to a five-syllable metrical segment or line form (e.g., in some Japanese or English light verse); useful for comparing syllabic versus accentual-syllabic traditions.
Also Known As
Five-syllable line
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