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rising foot

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

A metrical foot in which stress increases from unstressed to stressed syllables

Detailed Definition
A rising foot is a metrical unit (like iamb or anapest) where stress increases from unstressed to stressed syllables, creating forward momentum and natural speech rhythm; it contrasts with falling feet (trochee, dactyl) and dominates English poetry for its conversational fluidity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Iamb (unstressed-stressed): “beLONG”; Anapest (two unstressed-stressed): “inTERrupt”; Amphibrach (stressed-unstressed-stressed): “aMENd”; Rising rhythm in “The way a crow” (Frost’s iambic start)
Additional Notes
A rising foot begins with an unstressed syllable (e.g., iamb, anapest)—creates forward momentum; dominant in English meter due to language’s stress-timed nature.
Also Known As
Ascending foot rising meter iambic foot anapestic beat Iamb Short-long unit Unstressed-stressed pair
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