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Pipa

Musical Instrument
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 Chinese plucked lute with a pear-shaped body and virtuosic technique

Detailed Definition
The pipa features in poetry as a symbol of Chinese classical tradition, narrative drama, and feminine artistry; its rapid tremolos and expressive slides evoke historical epics, courtly elegance, and the resilience of cultural memory, often representing the voice of the past in lyrical dialogue with the present.
Example
Example in poetry:
Li Bai praised the pipa: “Big pearls and little pearls fall on a jade plate”; Its bent neck cradles Tang dynasty sorrow; “Pipa plucks—cavalry charges in teacup”; In diaspora verse, the pipa’s silk strings bridge oceans: “San Francisco fog, but my pipa sings Yangtze rain.”
Additional Notes
The pipa is a Chinese pear-shaped lute with four strings and virtuosic techniques (e.g., tremolo, bending); its dynamic range—from delicate plucks to percussive strikes—evokes narrative drama—poets can reference it to explore martial and lyrical duality, the instrument as storyteller in Tang dynasty poetry, or the fusion of finger and silk in East Asian aesthetics.
Also Known As
Chinese pipa
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