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Seismograph

Science
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

An instrument that detects and records vibrations caused by earthquakes and other ground motions.

Detailed Definition
A seismograph can become a poetic emblem of attention to tremor. Its needle records movements too slight or too distant for the body to understand immediately, translating hidden disturbance into a visible line. A poet may compare a heart, a household, or a nation to a seismograph when small signs reveal deeper instability. The term is especially effective in poems about aftermath, anticipation, and the effort to read meaning in a pattern of shocks.
Example
Example in poetry:
The seismograph scratched its thin black record while the floor began to tremble; A poet can compare a pulse monitor of emotion to a seismograph registering hidden shocks; “Her silence was a seismograph” suggests that even quietness records disturbance; In a poem about disaster, the seismograph gives an objective instrument a tense human setting
Additional Notes
A seismograph creates a record called a seismogram. Poets may use it as a metaphor for measuring hidden tremors in earth, bodies, or emotion.
Also Known As
Seismometer
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