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rax

Dialect
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 Scots Dialect verb meaning “to stretch,” “extend,” or “reach,” as in shadows stretching across a path or landscape.

Detailed Definition
In Scots, rax describes something extending or reaching outward, often over a space. In Violet Jacob’s poem, it gives the shadows an active, flowing quality as they stretch across the stubble and straw. The word is a literary use of Scots Dialect that helps establish the poem’s rural setting and its speaker’s regional voice.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Bonnie Joann, Violet Jacob writes: “Owre a’t hing the shadows gang trailin’, Owre stubble an’ strae; Frae the hedge to the fit o’ the pailin’ They rax owre the way;” Here, rax means “stretch” or “reach.” The shadows extend from the hedge across the way, creating an image that mirrors the speaker’s longing as he continues to see Joann through “the licht o’ my dreamin’.”
Additional Notes
Rax is a Scots Dialect form related in meaning to English reach and stretch. In this poem, it is a verb in the present tense: “they rax” means “they stretch” or “they extend.” The surrounding Scots vocabulary—such as owre (“over”), strae (“straw”), and pailing (“fence”)—reinforces the poem’s Dialect setting. Do not confuse this sense of rax with the unrelated modern word rax sometimes used in brand names or informal contexts.
Also Known As
Poetic Measure Versification
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