English Phonology & Poetics – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering spelling principles, stress and metre, syllable structure, rhyme types, verse forms, and sound devices from the lecture notes.

Systemic Demand (in spelling)

The requirement that a writing system display overall regularity and order, e.g., consistent rules for hyphenation.

Phonetic Demand (in spelling)

The principle that a single speech sound should be spelled the same in every word; problems arise through sound change or minim confusion (e.g., but vs. some).

Semantic Demand (in spelling)

The rule that a unit of meaning should keep a consistent spelling across related words, e.g., sign / signal / design despite differing pronunciations.

Etymological Demand (in spelling)

The idea that spelling should reflect a word’s historical origin, as in chauffeur or Fahrenheit.

Sentence Stress

The pattern of stressed words within a sentence, e.g., Bill is HERE today.

Markers of Stress

Acoustic cues indicating stress: pitch, loudness, length, and vowel quality.

Primary Stress

The most prominent syllable in a word, e.g., en-ter-TAIN-ment.

Secondary Stress

A less-prominent stress that may occur when additional syllables appear before or after the primary stress.

Rhythm (in verse)

The regular distribution of stressed and unstressed syllables in speech or poetry.

Metre

A specific, recurring stress pattern in poetry, measured in ‘feet.’

Iambic Foot

Unstressed + stressed syllables (da-DUM), e.g., a-WAY.

Trochaic Foot

Stressed + unstressed syllables (DUM-da), e.g., BEAU-ty.

Dactylic Foot

Stressed + two unstressed syllables (DUM-da-da), e.g., PO-e-try.

Anapestic Foot

Two unstressed + stressed syllables (da-da-DUM), e.g., un-der-STAND.

Monometer / Dimeter / Trimeter / Tetrameter / Pentameter / Hexameter / Heptameter

Lines containing one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven poetic feet, respectively; Shakespeare often used iambic pentameter.

Syllable

A phonological unit containing a vowel (with optional surrounding consonants) that can be uttered in isolation, e.g., bet, in, to.

Onset (of a syllable)

The consonant(s) preceding the nucleus, e.g., /b/ in bet.

Nucleus (of a syllable)

The central vowel of the syllable, e.g., /e/ in bet.

Coda (of a syllable)

The consonant(s) following the nucleus, e.g., /t/ in bet.

Closed Syllable

A syllable ending in a consonant, e.g., bet.

Open Syllable

A syllable ending in a vowel, e.g., be-.

Rhyme

Words whose final sounds match, e.g., fire / desire; spelling is irrelevant.

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme occurring within a single line, e.g., in mist or cloud, on mast or shroud.

End Rhyme

Rhyme occurring at the ends of lines of verse.

Eye Rhyme

Words that look alike in spelling but differ in sound, e.g., bough / cough.

Feminine Rhyme

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, e.g., motion / ocean.

Masculine Rhyme

A rhyme ending on a stressed syllable, e.g., stand / command.

End-Stopped Line

A verse line that concludes with a syntactic pause or punctuation.

Run-On Line (Enjambment)

A line whose sense continues without pause into the next line.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds, e.g., money-changer or money-changer.

Elision

The omission of a sound or syllable in pronunciation.

Apheresis

Elision at the beginning of a word, e.g., ’twas for it was.

Syncope

Elision in the middle of a word, e.g., o’er for over.

Apocope

Elision at the end of a word, e.g., lov’d for loved.

Homonymy

Words with identical spelling and pronunciation but different meanings.

Homophones

Words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings, e.g., rain / reign / rein.

Homographs

Words spelled the same but with different pronunciations and meanings, e.g., lead (metal) / lead (verb).