In ordinaryClassical Latin pronunciation, when the clustergr occursintervocalically at a syllabic boundary (denoted in pronunciatory transcriptions by ⟨.⟩), both consonants are considered to belong to the latter syllable; if the former syllable contains only a short vowel (and not a long vowel or adiphthong), then it is alight syllable. Where the two syllables under consideration are a word'spenult andantepenult, this has a bearing on stress, because a word whose penult is a heavy syllable is stressed on that syllable, whereas one whose penult is a light syllable is stressed on the antepenult instead. In poetic usage, where syllabic weight and stress are important formetrical reasons, writers sometimes regard theg in such a sequence as belonging to the former syllable; in this case, doing so alters the word's stress. For more words whose stress can be varied poetically, seetheir category.
