Assonance
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| - | '''Phonaesthetics''' (from the {{lang-el|φωνή}}, ''phōnē'', "voice-sound"; and {{Polytonic|αἰσθητική}}, ''aisthētikē'', "aesthetics") is the claim or study of inherent pleasantness or beauty ('''euphony''') or unpleasantness ('''cacophony''') of the [[phonetics|sound]] of certain words and sentences. [[Poetry]] is considered euphonic, as is well-crafted [[literary]] [[prose]]. Important phonaesthetic devices of poetry are [[rhyme]], [[assonance]] and [[alliteration]]. Closely related to euphony and cacophony is the concept of [[consonance and dissonance]]. | + | '''Assonance''' is the repetition of [[consonant|vowel sounds]] to create internal [[rhyme|rhyming]] within [[phrase]]s or [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentences]], and together with [[alliteration]] and [[Literary consonance|consonance]] serves as one of the building blocks of [[Poetry|verse]]. For example, in the phrase "D'''o''' y'''ou''' like bl'''ue'''?", the {{IPA|/uː/}} ("o"/"ou"/"ue" sound) is repeated within the sentence and is assonant. |
| - | The phrase ''[[cellar door]]'' has some notoriety as the reputedly most euphonic sound combination of the English language (specifically, when spoken with a [[British accent]]). | + | Assonance is found more often in [[Meter (poetry)|verse]] than in [[prose]]. It is used in (mainly modern) [[English language|English-language]] poetry, and is particularly important in [[Old French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and the [[Celtic languages]]. |
| - | From this meaning should be distinguished the closely related but different concept of [[phonaesthesia]], which does not refer directly to aesthetic attributes of sound, but to phonetic elements that are inherently associated with a [[semantic]] meaning. The term was introduced by [[J. R. Firth]] in 1930 "The phonæsthetic habits [...] and are of general importance in speech." Firth defined a '''[[phonaestheme]]''' as "a phoneme or cluster of phonemes shared by a group of words which also have in common some element of meaning or function, though the words may be etymologically unrelated." | + | ==Examples== |
| + | {| | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |the silken sad unc'''er'''tain rustling of each p'''ur'''ple c'''ur'''tain | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Edgar Allan Poe]], "[[The Raven]]" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |And m'''ur'''m'''ur'''ing of innum'''er'''able bees | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Alfred Lord Tennyson]], ''The Princess'' VII.203 | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Windows tinted on m'''y''' r'''i'''de when '''I''' dr'''i'''ve in it, so when '''I''' rob a bank run out and just d'''i'''ve in it, so '''I''''ll be disgu'''i'''sed in it. And if anybody '''i'''dentif'''i'''es the gu'''y''' in it, '''I''' h'''i'''de for f'''i'''ve minutes. Come back, shoot the '''eye''' witness. F'''i'''re at the pr'''i'''vate '''eye''' h'''i'''red to pr'''y''' in m'''y''' business. | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Eminem]], ''Criminal'' | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |That solit'''u'''de which s'''ui'''ts abstr'''u'''ser m'''u'''sings | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]], "[[Frost at Midnight]]" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |I must conf'''e'''ss that in my qu'''e'''st I f'''e'''lt depr'''e'''ssed and r'''e'''stless | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Thin Lizzy]], "With Love" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Known n'''ar'''cissists, sipping on '''ar'''senic, C'''ar'''ved c'''ar'''casses in the g'''ar'''age, don't p'''ar'''k in it, H'''ar'''d as finding ret'''ar'''ded kids at H'''ar'''vard, It's Wolf Gang b'''ar'''king keep you up like c'''ar''' al'''ar'''ms and shit | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Earl Sweatshirt]], from [[Tyler, The Creator]]'s "AssMilk" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |This b'''ur'''l'''a'''p s'''a'''ck '''i'''s f'''i'''lled w'''i'''th sn'''a'''ck for '''a'''fter cl'''a'''ss for the whole cl'''a'''ss to sn'''a'''ck on | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Earl Sweatshirt]], from "Pigions" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | |||
| + | * | ||
| + | |The cr'''u'''mbling th'''u'''nder of seas | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Dead '''i'''n the m'''i'''ddle of l'''i'''ttle '''I'''taly, l'''i'''ttle d'''i'''d we know that we r'''i'''ddled some m'''i'''ddleman who d'''i'''dn't do d'''i'''ddily. | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Big Pun]], "Twinz" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |H'''e'''s '''e'''vil, and I'm bad like St'''eve''' S'''ea'''gal. Above the law cause I don't agr'''ee''' with pol'''ice''' '''ei'''ther. (Shit me n'''ei'''ther.) We ain't '''ea'''ger to b'''e''' '''le'''gal, so pl'''ease''', l'''eave''', m'''e''', with the k'''eys''' to your J'''ee'''p-'''Ea'''gle. I br'''eathe''' '''e'''ther in thr'''ee''' l'''e'''thal amounts, while I stab myself in the kn'''ee''' with a dis'''e'''ased n'''ee'''dle. | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Eminem]], "Bad Meets Evil" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Close your eyes for what you c'''a'''n’t im'''a'''gine; we are the x'''a'''ny gn'''a'''shing, c'''a'''ddy sm'''a'''shin', br'''a'''tty '''ass''', he m'''a'''d, he sn'''a'''tched his d'''a'''ddy's j'''a'''g and used the shit for b'''a'''tting pr'''a'''ctice, '''A'''dament '''a'''nd he thrashin', Purchasin' cr'''a'''ppy gr'''a'''ms with h'''a'''lf the h'''a'''nd of c'''a'''sh you h'''a'''nded | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|{{nowrap|— [[Earl Sweatshirt]], from [[Frank Ocean]]'s "Super Rich Kids"}} | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |t'''u'''ndit'''u'''r '''u'''nda | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Catullus]] [[Catullus 11|11]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |on a pr'''ou'''d r'''ou'''nd cl'''ou'''d in wh'''i'''te h'''i'''gh n'''i'''ght | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[E.E. Cummings]], ''if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit'' | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |I've never seen so many Dom'''i'''nican w'''o'''men with c'''i'''nnamon tans | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Will Smith]], "Miami" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |I b'''o'''mb at'''o'''micall'''y'''—S'''o'''crat'''e'''s' phil'''o'''s'''o'''ph'''ie'''s and hyp'''o'''thes'''e'''s can't define how I b'''e''' dr'''o'''ppin' th'''e'''se m'''o'''cker'''ie'''s. | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Inspectah Deck]], from the [[Wu-Tang Clan]]'s "Triumph." | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Up in the arroy'''o''' a rare '''ow'''l's nest I did spy, s'''o''' I l'''oa'''ded up my shotgun and watched '''ow'''l feathers fly | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Jon Wayne]], [[Texas Assonance]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Some kids who played games about N'''a'''rn'''ia''' got gradually b'''a'''lm'''ie'''r and b'''a'''lm'''ie'''r | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[C.S. Lewis]] [[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |And the moon r'''o'''se '''o'''ver an '''o'''pen field | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Paul Simon]], [[America (Simon & Garfunkel song)|America]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Gonna g'''e'''t a s'''e'''t of b'''e'''tter clubs, gonna f'''i'''nd the k'''i'''nd with t'''i'''ny nubs, just so m'''y''' '''i'''rons aren't always fl'''y'''ing off the backswing | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Barenaked Ladies]], [[One Week (song)|One Week]] | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | |valign=top| | ||
| + | * | ||
| + | |Ps'''y'''chic sp'''i'''es from Ch'''i'''na tr'''y''' to steal your m'''i'''nd's elation | ||
| + | |valign=bottom|— [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], [[Californication (song)|Californication]] | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[Errantry]]'' is a poem whose meter contains three sets of trisyllabic assonances in every set of four lines. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In more modern verse, stressed assonance is frequently used as a rhythmic device in modern rap. An example is Public Enemy's 'Don't Believe The Hype': ''"Their pens and pads I snatch 'cause I've '''had it''' / I'm not an '''addict''', fiending for '''static''' / I see their tape recorder and I '''grab it''' / No, you can't '''have it''' back, silly '''rabbit'''". | ||
| + | |||
| + | Assonance can also be used in forming [[proverb]]s, often a form of short poetry. In the [[Oromo language]] of Ethiopia, note the use of a single vowel throughout the following proverb, an extreme form of assonance: | ||
| + | *''kan mana baala, aʔlaa gaala'' (“A leaf at home, but a camel elsewhere"; somebody who has a big reputation among those who do not know him well.) | ||
| + | |||
| + | Also from Ethiopia, note the complete assonance in this [[Amharic]] proverb: | ||
| + | *''yälämmänä mänämmänä'' ("The one who begs fades away.) | ||
| - | ==Examples== | ||
| - | *[[Cellar Door]] | ||
| - | |||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| - | *[[sandhi]] ("euphonic" rules in Sanskrit grammar) | + | *[[Alliteration]] |
| - | *[[vowel harmony]] | + | *[[Literary consonance]] |
| - | *[[assimilation (linguistics)]] | + | *[[Rhyme Genie]] - dynamic rhyming dictionary with 30 different rhyme types |
| - | *[[dissimilation]] | + | |
| - | *[[elision]] | + | |
| - | *[[epenthesis]] | + | |
| - | *[[affection (linguistics)]] | + | |
| - | *[[i-mutation]] | + | |
| - | *''[[English and Welsh]]'' | + | |
| - | *[[inherently funny word]] | + | |
| - | *[[phonosemantics]] | + | |
| - | *[[onomatopoeia]] | + | |
| - | *[[Japanese sound symbolism]] | + | |
| - | *[[glossolalia]] | + | |
| - | *[[symphony]] | + | |
| - | *[[harmony]] | + | |
| - | *[[Vilayanur S. Ramachandran]] | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 08:01, 6 July 2013
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Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the Template:IPA ("o"/"ou"/"ue" sound) is repeated within the sentence and is assonant.
Assonance is found more often in verse than in prose. It is used in (mainly modern) English-language poetry, and is particularly important in Old French, Spanish and the Celtic languages.
Examples
|
| the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain | — Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven" |
|
| And murmuring of innumerable bees | — Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Princess VII.203 |
|
| Windows tinted on my ride when I drive in it, so when I rob a bank run out and just dive in it, so I'll be disguised in it. And if anybody identifies the guy in it, I hide for five minutes. Come back, shoot the eye witness. Fire at the private eye hired to pry in my business. | — Eminem, Criminal |
|
| That solitude which suits abstruser musings | — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Frost at Midnight" |
|
| I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless | — Thin Lizzy, "With Love" |
|
| Known narcissists, sipping on arsenic, Carved carcasses in the garage, don't park in it, Hard as finding retarded kids at Harvard, It's Wolf Gang barking keep you up like car alarms and shit | — Earl Sweatshirt, from Tyler, The Creator's "AssMilk" |
|
| This burlap sack is filled with snack for after class for the whole class to snack on | — Earl Sweatshirt, from "Pigions" |
|
| The crumbling thunder of seas | — Robert Louis Stevenson |
|
| Dead in the middle of little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddily. | — Big Pun, "Twinz" |
|
| Hes evil, and I'm bad like Steve Seagal. Above the law cause I don't agree with police either. (Shit me neither.) We ain't eager to be legal, so please, leave, me, with the keys to your Jeep-Eagle. I breathe ether in three lethal amounts, while I stab myself in the knee with a diseased needle. | — Eminem, "Bad Meets Evil" |
|
| Close your eyes for what you can’t imagine; we are the xany gnashing, caddy smashin', bratty ass, he mad, he snatched his daddy's jag and used the shit for batting practice, Adament and he thrashin', Purchasin' crappy grams with half the hand of cash you handed | Template:Nowrap |
|
| tunditur unda | — Catullus 11 |
|
| on a proud round cloud in white high night | — E.E. Cummings, if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit |
|
| I've never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans | — Will Smith, "Miami" |
|
| I bomb atomically—Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses can't define how I be droppin' these mockeries. | — Inspectah Deck, from the Wu-Tang Clan's "Triumph." |
|
| Up in the arroyo a rare owl's nest I did spy, so I loaded up my shotgun and watched owl feathers fly | — Jon Wayne, Texas Assonance |
|
| Some kids who played games about Narnia got gradually balmier and balmier | — C.S. Lewis The Voyage of the Dawn Treader |
|
| And the moon rose over an open field | — Paul Simon, America |
|
| Gonna get a set of better clubs, gonna find the kind with tiny nubs, just so my irons aren't always flying off the backswing | — Barenaked Ladies, One Week |
|
| Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation | — Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication |
J. R. R. Tolkien's Errantry is a poem whose meter contains three sets of trisyllabic assonances in every set of four lines.
In more modern verse, stressed assonance is frequently used as a rhythmic device in modern rap. An example is Public Enemy's 'Don't Believe The Hype': "Their pens and pads I snatch 'cause I've had it / I'm not an addict, fiending for static / I see their tape recorder and I grab it / No, you can't have it back, silly rabbit".
Assonance can also be used in forming proverbs, often a form of short poetry. In the Oromo language of Ethiopia, note the use of a single vowel throughout the following proverb, an extreme form of assonance:
- kan mana baala, aʔlaa gaala (“A leaf at home, but a camel elsewhere"; somebody who has a big reputation among those who do not know him well.)
Also from Ethiopia, note the complete assonance in this Amharic proverb:
- yälämmänä mänämmänä ("The one who begs fades away.)
See also
- Alliteration
- Literary consonance
- Rhyme Genie - dynamic rhyming dictionary with 30 different rhyme types
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Assonance" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
