The English word "foot" is a translation of the Latin term pes, plural pedes, which in turn is a translation of the Ancient Greek πούς, pl. πόδες. The Ancient Greek prosodists, who invented this terminology, specified that a foot must have both an arsis and a thesis,[2] that is, a place where the foot was raised ("arsis") and where it was put down ("thesis") in beating time or in marching or dancing. The Greeks recognised three basic types of feet, the iambic (where the ratio of arsis to thesis was 1:2), the dactylic (where it was 2:2) and the paeonic (where it was 3:2).[3]
Lines of verse are classified according to the number of feet they contain, e.g. pentameter. However some lines of verse are not considered to be made up of feet, e.g. hendecasyllable.
In some kinds of metre, such as the Greek iambic trimeter, two feet are combined into a larger unit called a metron (pl. metra) or dipody.
The foot is a purely metrical unit; there is no inherent relation to a word or phrase as a unit of meaning or syntax, though the interplay between these is an aspect of the poet's skill and artistry.[citation needed]
Below listed are the names given to the poetic feet by classical metrics. The feet are classified first by the number of syllables in the foot (disyllables have two, trisyllables three, and tetrasyllables four) and secondarily by the pattern of vowel lengths (in classical languages) or syllable stresses (in English poetry) which they comprise.
The following lists describe the feet in terms of vowel length (as in classical languages). Translated into syllable stresses (as in English poetry), "long" becomes "stressed" ("accented"), and "short" becomes "unstressed" ("unaccented"). For example, an iamb, which is short-long in classical meter, becomes unstressed-stressed, as in the English word "alone".[4]
Disyllablesedit
Macron and breve notation: = stressed/long syllable, = unstressed/short syllable
metrical, foot, pedes, redirects, here, ancient, roman, unit, length, unit, foot, basic, repeating, rhythmic, unit, that, forms, part, line, verse, most, indo, european, traditions, poetry, including, english, accentual, syllabic, verse, quantitative, meter, c. Pedes redirects here For the ancient Roman unit of length see Pes unit The foot is the basic repeating rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of verse in most Indo European traditions of poetry including English accentual syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry The unit is composed of syllables and is usually two three or four syllables in length The most common feet in English are the iamb trochee dactyl and anapaest 1 The foot might be compared to a bar or a beat divided into pulse groups in musical notation The English word foot is a translation of the Latin term pes plural pedes which in turn is a translation of the Ancient Greek poys pl podes The Ancient Greek prosodists who invented this terminology specified that a foot must have both an arsis and a thesis 2 that is a place where the foot was raised arsis and where it was put down thesis in beating time or in marching or dancing The Greeks recognised three basic types of feet the iambic where the ratio of arsis to thesis was 1 2 the dactylic where it was 2 2 and the paeonic where it was 3 2 3 Lines of verse are classified according to the number of feet they contain e g pentameter However some lines of verse are not considered to be made up of feet e g hendecasyllable In some kinds of metre such as the Greek iambic trimeter two feet are combined into a larger unit called a metron pl metra or dipody The foot is a purely metrical unit there is no inherent relation to a word or phrase as a unit of meaning or syntax though the interplay between these is an aspect of the poet s skill and artistry citation needed Contents 1 Classical meter 1 1 Disyllables 1 2 Trisyllables 1 3 Tetrasyllables 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksClassical meter editBelow listed are the names given to the poetic feet by classical metrics The feet are classified first by the number of syllables in the foot disyllables have two trisyllables three and tetrasyllables four and secondarily by the pattern of vowel lengths in classical languages or syllable stresses in English poetry which they comprise The following lists describe the feet in terms of vowel length as in classical languages Translated into syllable stresses as in English poetry long becomes stressed accented and short becomes unstressed unaccented For example an iamb which is short long in classical meter becomes unstressed stressed as in the English word alone 4 Disyllables edit Macron and breve notation nbsp stressed long syllable nbsp unstressed short syllable nbsp nbsp pyrrhus dibrach nbsp nbsp iamb or iambus or jambus nbsp nbsp trochee choree or choreus nbsp nbsp spondeeTrisyllables edit nbsp nbsp nbsp tribrach nbsp nbsp nbsp dactyl nbsp nbsp nbsp amphibrach nbsp nbsp nbsp anapaest antidactylus nbsp nbsp nbsp bacchius nbsp nbsp nbsp cretic amphimacer nbsp nbsp nbsp antibacchius nbsp nbsp nbsp molossusTetrasyllables edit nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp tetrabrach proceleusmatic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp primus paeon nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp secundus paeon nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp tertius paeon nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp quartus paeon nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp major ionic double trochee nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp minor ionic double iamb nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp ditrochee nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp diiamb nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp choriamb nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp antispast nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp first epitrite nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp second epitrite nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp third epitrite nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp fourth epitrite nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp dispondeeSee also editAccent poetry Syllable weightReferences edit Baldick Chris 2008 The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 923891 0 Pearson Lionel 1990 Aristoxenes Elementa Rhythmica Oxford p 29 Pearson Lionel 1990 Aristoxenes Elementa Rhythmica Oxford pp 25 27 Howatson M C ed 1976 The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 866121 5 External links editComprehensive list of feet and colas up to 12 syllables long Prosody Tutorial by H T Kirby Smith Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Metrical foot amp oldid 1199369820, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
