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Shared stress

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

Emphasis distributed across multiple syllables rather than concentrated on one

Detailed Definition
Shared stress describes syllables or words receiving equal emphasis within metrical patterns. Rather than clear hierarchies of stressed and unstressed elements, this effect creates ambiguity or distributed weight where multiple syllables compete for accent, complicating scansion and creating rhythmic tension.
Example
Example in poetry:
Stress ambiguously placed between syllables; Emphasis distributed across multiple beats; Accent spread rather than concentrated; Stress blurred across words
Additional Notes
Stress distributed across multiple syllables rather than concentrated on one. Creates ambiguity or smoothness. Common in Hopkins and experimental prosody.
Also Known As
Divided stress Split accent Common emphasis Distributed stress
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