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Strong final syllable

Sound
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

The last syllable of a line or word that is emphasized in pronunciation or meter

Detailed Definition
A strong final syllable is a stressed, often monosyllabic word or syllable at the end of a poetic line that delivers metrical weight and rhetorical force; it contributes to masculine rhyme, oral clarity, and memorability, and is frequently used in traditional English verse—such as in Frost’s “And miles to go before I sleep”—to provide a decisive, resonant close that lingers in the listener’s ear.
Example
Example in poetry:
The word “light” in William Blake’s “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright” is a strong final syllable carrying metrical stress; In “Ode to a Nightingale,” Keats writes “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains,” ending with the strong syllable “pains”; The line “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” (Frost) ends with the strong, stressed syllable “deep”; Tennyson’s “Break, break, break” uses the monosyllabic, stressed word “break” as a strong final syllable in each refrain line
Additional Notes
A strong final syllable is a stressed, often monosyllabic word at line’s end that provides metrical and rhetorical emphasis; closely related to masculine rhyme and terminal stress; enhances memorability and oral delivery in poetry
Also Known As
Masculine rhyme syllable emphatic terminal stressed close heavy final beat Masculine Ending
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