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Trisyllabic

Foot
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 metrical foot of three syllables, such as an anapest, dactyl, or amphibrach

Detailed Definition
Trisyllabic feet—like the anapest (˘ ˘ –), dactyl (– ˘ ˘), or amphibrach (˘ – ˘)—introduce rhythmic variety into predominantly disyllabic English meters; their triple-time cadence can suggest urgency, playfulness, or solemnity, and poets strategically deploy them to disrupt monotony, mirror natural speech, or evoke specific emotional or narrative effects.
Example
Example in poetry:
Trisyllabic feet include the dactyl (– u u) in Longfellow’s “Evangeline”: “This is the forest primeval”; The anapest (u u –) in Byron’s “The Destruction of Sennacherib”: “The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold”; The amphibrach (u – u) in Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott”: “On either side the river lie”; Trisyllabic substitution in iambic pentameter, as in Shakespeare: “In su|gar’d so|ciety” (Hamlet); These feet add rhythmic variety and musicality; They dominate narrative and lyrical poetry alike.
Additional Notes
Trisyllabic: Refers to three-syllable words or metrical feet such as dactyl (– u u), anapest (u u –), amphibrach (u – u), and others; central to dactylic and anapestic meters; students should master trisyllabic substitution in iambic pentameter (e.g., in Shakespeare).
Also Known As
Trisyllable
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