Home › Glossary › Letter V

vi'lets

Flora
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

Vi'lets is an old poetic spelling of violets, small purple flowers. The apostrophe marks the shortened pronunciation.

Detailed Definition
This is a poetic contraction of "violets," used to fit meter and sound. It is not a separate modern word, but readers may pause because of the unusual spelling. In the poem it appears among remembered flowers from childhood.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The roses, red and white, / The vi’lets, and the lily-cups” uses vi’lets as a metrically shortened form of violets; the apostrophe signals an omitted vowel, helping the line’s rhythm; “Vi’lets darken under April rain” preserves the poetic contraction in a new setting; compare the fuller “violets,” which may add a syllable and alter the meter
Additional Notes
The spelling "vi'lets" is unusual and may puzzle readers even though it refers to violets.; Found in the poem, I Remember, I Remember by Thomas Hood
Also Known As
violets purple blooms sweet-scented flowers woodland blossoms
Skip to main content