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stress indicator

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 mark or convention used to denote stressed syllables in metrical notation

Detailed Definition
A stress indicator is a diacritical mark or notational symbol used in prosody to denote which syllables receive metrical emphasis; while rarely appearing in published poems, it is essential in scansion exercises to analyze and teach rhythmic structure and poetic meter.
Example
Example in poetry:
In scansion, the symbol “/” marks a stressed syllable; The ictus (′) placed over “LOVE” in “LOVE is blind”; Notation using bold: “The curfew tolls”; Diacritical marks in textbooks: “ăbōve” showing unstressed-stressed pattern
Additional Notes
Stress indicator marks which syllables receive emphasis in scansion (e.g., ˈ for stressed); crucial for analyzing meter and reading aloud.
Also Known As
accent marker stress sign metrical indicator rhythmic cue Accent mark metrical marker Stress mark
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