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Untruncated line

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 poetic line that fulfills its expected length without omission

Detailed Definition
An untruncated line is a verse line that preserves its complete metrical structure without omitting final unstressed syllables; this contrasts with truncated lines that end on a stress for emphasis, allowing untruncated lines to maintain fluidity, musicality, or narrative continuity.
Example
Example in poetry:
A line of iambic pentameter with ten full syllables: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes”; “That time of year thou mayst in me behold”; “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see”
Additional Notes
Untruncated line: A line of verse that is metrically acatalectic (complete), meaning it contains the full number of expected syllables for its meter, without any syllable or foot cut short from the beginning (truncation) or end (catalexis).
Also Known As
Full line Complete verse line Uncut line Acatalectic verse
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