catalexis

cat·a·lex·is

C0153100 (kăt′l-ĕk′sĭs)n. pl. cat·a·lex·es (-sēz′) The absence of one or more syllables in a line of verse, especially in the last foot.

[Greek katalēxis, from katalēgein, to leave off; see catalectic.]

catalexis

(ˌkætəˈlɛksɪs) nthe state of lacking a syllable in the last foot of a line of poetry

catalexis

incompleteness of a foot, wherever it appears in a verse. — catalectic, adj.See also: Verse

Thesaurus

Noun

catalexis - the absence of a syllable in the last foot of a line or versecadence, metre, meter, measure, beat - (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

Catalexis

(1) The type of verse meter at the rhythmic end of a line (clausula), that is, at the last stressed syllable and any unstressed syllables following it. The number of unstressed syllables can vary; in Russian verse there are usually from none to two (rarely three or more).

(2) In the narrow sense of the word: in discussing feet in old prosody, catalexis described a line ending a foot shorter than other lines by one or two unstressed syllables; for example, “Mútno nébo, nóch, mutná” (—⌣/—⌣/—⌣/—). The ear distinguishes the clausula irrespective of the character of the foot, so that contemporary Russian poetics tends not to classify lines of verse as catalectic (with a shortened foot at the end), acatalectic (full), or hypercatalectic (extended).

REFERENCE

Zhirmunskii, V. M. Vvedenie v metriku. Leningrad, 1925. Pages 131–38.

catalexis

Related to catalexis: Acatalexis

noun

Words related to catalexis

noun the absence of a syllable in the last foot of a line or verse

Related Words

cadence
metre
meter
measure
beat

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