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respiratory prosody

Meter
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

Prosody structured to mirror natural inhalation and exhalation, aligning line breaks and phrasing with human respiratory rhythms.

Detailed Definition
Respiratory prosody is a theory of poetic rhythm that bases metrical patterns on natural breathing rather than strict metrical feet, emphasizing the organic flow of spoken language; it privileges enjambment, variable line lengths, and caesurae that mirror inhalation and exhalation, fostering conversational authenticity.
Example
Example in poetry:
The way a poet designs line breaks and pauses to match the natural pattern of human breathing and speech, influencing the pace and delivery; The use of short lines and frequent pauses to create a rapid, breathless delivery; The use of long, enjambed lines to encourage a sustained, flowing oral delivery; The deliberate placement of commas and caesuras to control where the reader is forced to pause for breath
Additional Notes
The study of how natural breathing patterns and the rhythm of human speech influence the meter, pacing, and emotional delivery of poetic lines; relates prosody to performance physiology.
Also Known As
Breathing prosody phonic respiration breath-structured verse Aerophonic verse
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