Vurgu

Vurgu is a term used in Turkish language and linguistics to denote emphasis or prominence. The word stems from the Turkish verb vurmak, "to strike," and is used across contexts to indicate that a syllable, phrase, or passage stands out in speech, writing, or music.

In linguistics, vurgu (prosodic stress) refers to the prominence given to a syllable within a word or to a word within a phrase. It is realized through combinations of higher pitch, greater loudness, and longer duration. Turkish, like many languages, marks vurgu primarily on the most prominent syllable of a word; in Turkish, the stress is characteristically placed on the last syllable of the word or stem, though suffixes and loanwords can shift it.

In typography and editing, vurgu means emphasis. Writers indicate vurgu through typographic cues such as bold or italics, underlining, or color to draw attention to a word or phrase.

In Turkish music theory, vurgu also denotes a rhythmic accent, the beat or stress on a note group that gives the music its sense of timing and emphasis.

Vurgu is thus a cross-disciplinary concept capturing the idea of prominence in sound, text, and rhythm.