The second stress of the on-verse may also alliterate with the others. This usually means they start with the same letter. Sp' alliterates with 'sp' only, while 'sc' alliterates with 'sc'. A vowel alliterates with any other vowel. Hard c' and 'soft c' can alliterate with each other, because the distinction of these sounds developed after the creation of the Germanic metric form.
Stress can fall only on a single long syllable or resolved syllables.
Resolution occurs when two syllables, the first of which is short, are counted together as one beat. When scanning the meter, the resolved syllables are treated as if they are a single long syllable The resolved stress is 'suspended' when it follows a long-stem stressed syllable in the antepenultimate position. Words that bear primary stress are usually nouns, adjectives, infinitives and participles. Words that usually bear secondary stress are adverbs and finite verbs. An 'x' marks weak or non-stress syllables.