Home › Glossary › Letter R

recurrent phrase motif

Device
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

The repeated use of a specific phrase to unify or emphasize a theme

Detailed Definition
recurrent phrase motif is a repeated verbal unit—word, phrase, or clause—that returns at intervals to unify a poem thematically or structurally; unlike a refrain, it may vary slightly with each appearance, accumulating new connotations or emotional weight, thereby tracing the speaker’s evolving relationship to a central idea, memory, or obsession across the poem’s duration.
Example
Example in poetry:
Repeating “I remember” to structure a poem; “Once upon a time” as narrative anchor; “And still” recurring to emphasize persistence; “This is how” used cyclically to build testimony
Additional Notes
Recurrent phrase motifs gain resonance through variation—slightly alter wording or context each time to show psychological or thematic development across the poem.
Also Known As
Recurring motif Echo phrase Refrain variation Cyclic utterance
Skip to main content