Quotes About Prosody

I teach writing courses and first of all, I teach my students what prosody is.

The meter itself demands a special vocabulary, for many combinations of long and short syllables that are common in the spoken language cannot be admitted to the line Ã¢â'¬â€any word with three consecutive short syllables, for example, any word with one short syllable between two longs. This difficulty was met by choosing freely among the many variations of pronunciation and prosody afforded by Greek dialectal differences; the epic language is a mixture of dialects." - Bernard Knox

the haiku. It has, of course, a three-part prosodic structure, five syllables–seven syllables–five syllables. But, as written in Japanese, it is usually represented in a single line and there is a long controversy about whether it should be translated as a one-line or a three-line poem.

she swore in good mouth-filling oaths, but never smutty ones, and that was uncommon. She knew the prosody of profanity. . . . she knew the tune, as well as the words. She was not a raving beauty, but she had fine eyes and a Pre-Raphelite air of being too good for this world while at the same time exhibiting much of what this world desires in a woman, and I suppose I gaped at her and behaved clownishly.

A poem wasn't really a poem, it seemed to her, unless it was full of metaphor; it took her a while to adjust to the prosody she heard in his work.

ACATALECTIC  (ACATALE'CTIC)   n.s.[  Gr.]A verse which has the compleat number of syllables, without defect or superfluity.

Words alone are never enough to convey meaning: prosody is an essential feature of adult verbal exchanges. Consider the exclamation 'Really!' It can imply surprise, disbelief, disapproval, enthusiasm, disdain, and perhaps many other meanings, each of which must be conveyed by intonation rather than by the word itself.

Chinese prosody is largely concerned with the number of characters per line and the arrangement of tones - both of which are untranslatable. But translators tend to rush in where wise men never, tread, and often may be seen attempting to nurture Chinese rhyme patterns in the hostile environment of Western language.

I love the musicality of words.

application of force. How much else have I not registered? Her prosody

Sitting in my office before teaching a class on prosody, trying not to think about you, about my having lost you. But how can it be? How can it be? Was I too blue for you. Was I too blue. I look down at my lecture notes: Heártbréak is a spondee. Then I lay my head down on the desk and start to weep.—Why doesn't this help?

Pero, sobre todo, de igual suerte que los escritores llegan a menudo a un poder de concentración de que les hubiera dispensado el régimen de libertad política o de anarquía literaria, cuando están atados de pies y manos por la tiranía de un monarca o de una poética, por los rigores de las reglas prosódicas o de una religión de Estado, así Francisca, como no podía replicarnos de una manera explícita, hablaba como Tiresias y hubiera escrito como Tácito.