Sunday, 2 March 2014

Sound: Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance

Besides rhyme, there are other techniques using sounds, such as: alliteration, assonance, and consonance.

This short definition is copied from here:

ALLITERATION is the repetition of the beginning consonant of nearby words.

EXAMPLE

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Full fathom five thy father lies.

CONSONANCE is the repetition of the other consonant sounds of nearby words that do not rhyme.

EXAMPLE

I dropped the locket in the thick mud.
The dove moved above the waves.

ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel sounds of nearby words that do not rhyme.

EXAMPLE

I made my way to the lake.
Hear the mellow wedding bells.

Longer definitions can be found here.  And much more detail can be found here.

'Tongue twisters' use which of the three above?

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck,
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

How is Assonance used in 'Daffodils' by Tennyson?
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

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