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Talus

Geology
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 pile of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or slope. It can suggest aftermath, collapse, or accumulated fragments.

Detailed Definition
Talus is the loose accumulation of broken rock at the foot of a cliff, formed by weathering, falling stone, and gravity. In poetry, it offers an image of aftermath: what gathers beneath a breakdown, avalanche, argument, or ruin. Each fragment once belonged to a larger mass, so talus can express broken kinship or the debris of a former certainty. Yet it is also a new terrain, unstable but real, where roots may eventually take hold among the stones.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The talus at the cliff’s foot / keeps the mountain’s broken syllables,” using loose rock as an image of aftermath; A poet might write, “We crossed the talus slowly,” to make a difficult emotional journey physically precarious; “Each apology slid down like talus” compares falling stones to words that cannot remain secure; In a landscape poem, “talus gleamed beneath the granite wall” provides precise geological detail and texture; A speaker could call scattered memories “a talus of names,” suggesting fragments accumulated below a larger loss
Additional Notes
Talus, also called scree, forms as rock breaks from a cliff through weathering and falls downhill. In poetry, its loose, jagged accumulation can create images of ruin, instability, or evidence left beneath a larger event.
Other Meanings of “Talus”
Also Known As
Scree Talus Slope
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