Checklist of Greek (G) and Indic (I) Metrical Terminology

GI acephaly: truncation of the verse-initial syllable

G Adonic: – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏓

G Aeolic base: the ⏓ ⏓ in Glyconic and Pherecratic verses (q.v.)

G Aeolic meters: Glyconics, Pherecratics (q.v.), and their derivatives

G antistrophe: a second stanza metrically matching a first stanza (= strophe)

I Anuṣṭubh: Vedic stanza with 4 octosyllables

G Asclepiad: ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓, derivative of the Glyconic

G Asynartetic: relating to verses where word-breaks mark the beginnings and ends of metrical units

I Bhārgavā verses: Vedic hendecasyllables with closing ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓

I Bṛhatī: Vedic stanza with 4 verses, consisting of 8 8 12 8 syllables

G bucolic diaeresis: word-break between the 4th and 5th feet of dactylic hexameter (see also ‘diaeresis’)

GI caesura: word-break in a verse

GI catalexis: deletion of the ⏓ that is the last syllable of the verse; the next-to-last syllable then becomes the new ⏓

G choriamb: – ⏑ ⏑ –

G choriambic dimeter: ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓

G dactyl: the foot – ⏑ ⏑

G dactylic hexameter: – ⏔ – ⏔ – ⏔ – ⏔ – ⏔ – ⏓

G Dactylo-Epitrite versification: combinations of dactylic and iambic sequences

GI decasyllable: a verse consisting of 10 syllables

G diaeresis: word-break between feet, not within feet

GI dimeter: octosyllable or heptasyllable (by catalexis)

GI distich: a metrical unit consisting of two verses

GI dodecasyllable: a verse consisting of 12 syllables

G dovetailing: a process whereby the expected word-break is run over by one syllable

I Dvipadā Virāj: Vedic stanza with two distichs consisting of 5 5 syllables:

G elegiac pentameter: – ⏔ – ⏔ – || – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓

GI enjambment: a process whereby a fixed word-group is carried over from one verse to the next

G Enkomiologikon: – ⏑ ⏑ –⏑ ⏑ – || – –⏑ – ⏓

G Enoplion: ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏓

G epode: the third stanza in certain hymnic structures, formally distinct from the strophe and antistrophe (q.v.); hymns with strophe/antistrophe/epode are called ‘triadic’

G foot: a metrical unit such as the dactyl (– ⏑ ⏑) or spondee (– –)

I Gāyatrī: Vedic stanza with 3 octosyllables

G Glyconic: ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓

G Hemiepes (´):– ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – (⏓)

GI hendecasyllable: a verse consisting of 11 syllables

G hephthemimeral caesura: word-break after the long of the 4th foot in dactylic hexameter

GI heptasyllable: a verse consisting of 7 syllables

G Hermann’s bridge: constraint against word-break after – ⏑ in the 4th foot of dactylic hexameter

G hexameter: a verse consisting of 6 feet

G Hipponacteum: ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏓

GI hypersyllabism: extra syllable in a verse, at either end

G iamb: ⏓ – ⏑ –

G Iambelegos: ⏓ – ⏑ – – || – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓

GI iambic: having the basic pattern …⏑ –…

G iambic dimeter: ⏓ – ⏑ – ⏓ – ⏑ ⏓

G iambic trimeter: ⏓– ⏑ –⏓– ⏑ –⏓– ⏑ ⏓

I Jagatī: Vedic stanza with 4 dodecasyllables, closing ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓

G Lekythion: – ⏑ – ⏓ – ⏑ ⏓

GI octosyllable: a verse consisting of 8 syllables

G pentameter: a verse consisting of 5 feet

G penthemimeral caesura: word-break after the long of the 3rd foot in dactylic hexameter

G Pherecratic: ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏓, the catalectic variant of a Glyconic

G polyschematist: featuring free alternation of verses like Glyconics and choriambic dimeters

G Prosodiakon: ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓

G Sapphic pentameter: Aeolic base (one quasi-foot) plus 4 dactyls = 5 ‘feet’

I Satobṛhatī: Vedic stanza with 4 verses, consisting of 12 8 12 8 syllables

G spondee: the foot – –

G strophe: stanza

G Synartetic: relating to verses where the expected word-breaks are run over

G Telesilleion: ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓

GI trimeter: dodecasyllable or hendecasyllable (by catalexis)

I Triṣṭubh: Vedic stanza with 4 hendecasyllables, closing ⏑ – ⏓

GI trochaic: having the basic pattern …– ⏑…

G trochaic caesura: word-break after – ⏑ in the 3rd foot of dactylic hexameter

G trochee: – ⏑ – ⏓

I Uṣṇih-A/B: Vedic stanza consisting of 8 8 12 / 8 8 8 4 syllables