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Sacred hymn

Genre
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 devotional poem or song addressed to a deity or spiritual entity, often used in religious rituals

Detailed Definition
Sacred hymn is a devotional poem addressed to the divine, characterized by reverence, elevated diction, and communal voice; distinct from personal prayer, it often follows metrical and strophic conventions for congregational singing, blending theological reflection with lyrical beauty to enact worship through language.
Example
Example in poetry:
Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd…”; Hindu bhajans praising deities in lyrical form; Gregorian chants adapted into poetic meter; Sufi qasidas extolling divine attributes through rhythmic devotion
Additional Notes
Sacred hymn addresses the divine with reverence, often using elevated diction and communal voice; differs from prayer by its metrical and performative nature.
Also Known As
devotional hymn liturgical song sacred ode prayerful lyric biblical song sacred song Devotional chant Devotional lyric Sacred verse
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