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tonn

Dialect
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 Irish word for a wave, appearing throughout Irish poetry as a fundamental image of the sea's power, the rhythm of natural forces, and the grief that breaks in repeated surges over the mourning heart.

Detailed Definition
Tonn (plural tonnta) is one of the elemental words of Irish poetry, belonging both to seascape description and to the deep metaphorical language of emotion. The three great waves of Ireland — Tonn Tuile, Tonn Rúraí, and Tonn Chlíodhna — were celebrated in early texts as portents and supernatural forces. In lament poetry, the wave's repeated crashing becomes an image for grief that returns again and again without exhausting itself. The sound of tonnta against the shore is inseparable from the Irish literary imagination of the western coast, and the word appears in countless poems as both literal description and emotional metaphor.
Example
Example in poetry:
The tonn crashes against shore with rhythmic regularity; Poets compare emotional turbulence to violent movement of tonn; The tonn carries debris from distant lands to Irish beaches; Swimming against the tonn tests physical strength and determination; The tonn erodes cliffs slowly revealing geological history; The tonn symbolizes overwhelming forces beyond human control.
Additional Notes
Tonn (wave) in Irish poetry is a fundamental image of the sea's power, rhythm, and unpredictability. It symbolizes emotional turbulence, change, and the force of nature. Poets use tonn imagery to describe feelings of overwhelm, passion, or despair. The tonn crashes against the shore, representing the interaction between human stability and natural chaos. It is a dynamic element that drives maritime poetry. Understanding tonn helps appreciate the elemental forces in Irish verse, where the sea is a constant presence.
Also Known As
wave billow surge swell
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