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Untruncated hexameter

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 hexameter line that retains all six metrical feet without truncation, preserving classical completeness and rhythmic fullness.

Detailed Definition
Untruncated hexameter describes a six-foot metrical line—typically dactylic in classical poetry—that retains all expected syllables without shortening the final foot; in English adaptations, this full-length line conveys grandeur or solemnity, though its length often challenges natural speech patterns.
Example
Example in poetry:
A hexameter line with six complete metrical feet: “And on the idle hill of summer, / I hear the sound of distant drums” (adapted to full hexameter); Classical dactylic hexameter: “Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris” (Virgil); “Over the mountains and valleys and rivers and forests they marched”; “The sun rose high in the heavens and cast its golden light wide”
Additional Notes
Untruncated hexameter: A six-foot line that is metrically complete, containing the full number of syllables for its established meter (e.g., six dactyls in classical dactylic hexameter or six iambs/trochees in accentual-syllabic verse), with no missing end-syllable (catalexis) or foot.
Also Known As
Complete hexameter Full six-foot line Uncut hexameter Acatalectic hexameter
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