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Short dactyl

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 truncated form of the dactylic foot, often used at the end of a line

Detailed Definition
A short dactyl is a metrical foot comprising one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (DUM-da), a truncated version of the classical dactyl (DUM-da-da); used for rhythmic variation or compression, it appears in experimental or modernist verse seeking to disrupt traditional prosody.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Hickory, dickory, dock” uses short dactyl (DUM-da-da); “This is the forest primeval” begins with short dactyl; “Over the mountain” fits short dactyl rhythm; “Break, break, break” by Tennyson opens with short dactyls
Additional Notes
Short dactyl: A metrical foot (suu, one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed) used in a line that is unusually brief (e.g., a monometer or dimeter); creates a rapid, falling rhythm.
Also Known As
Short dactylic line brief dactyl clipped dactyl Adonic foot
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