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Stress mark

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 symbol used to denote which syllable receives emphasis in metrical scanning

Detailed Definition
Stress mark is a diacritical symbol (´) used in prosody to indicate a stressed syllable in metrical notation; it helps clarify rhythmic patterns in scansion, distinguishing between iambic, trochaic, or other feet, and is essential for analyzing and performing poetry with precise attention to sound.
Example
Example in poetry:
In scansion, the acute accent (´) marks stressed syllables like “HAP-py”; The symbol “/” denotes stress in metrical notation; Stress marks differentiate “RE-bel” (noun) from “re-BEL” (verb); Used in dictionaries to indicate pronunciation emphasis
Additional Notes
Stress marks (e.g., / or ´) indicate emphasized syllables in metrical analysis; crucial for scanning iambic, trochaic, and other meters; distinguish between lexical stress (dictionary) and poetic stress (contextual)
Also Known As
ictus mark stress indicator metrical accent rhythmic emphasis Grave accent (prosody) Acute accent Grave accent
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