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alliteration
ALLITERATION
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
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1998
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© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
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ALLITERATION, also head rhyme, initial rhyme. Terms in
RHETORIC, poetics, and general usage for the repetition of the same sound, usually an initial
CONSONANT such as the
f in ‘Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute’ ( Milton). Alliteration can serve both a mnemonic and an ornamental purpose, and is common in:
verse O Wild West Wind, thou breath of autumn's being ( Shelley);
story-telling prose the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River ( Kipling);
speech-making Do not let us speak of darker days; let us rather speak of sterner days ( Churchill);
advertising Guinness is good for you, You can be sure of Shell;
TONGUE-TWISTERS Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, She sells sea-shells on the seashore;
similes cool as a cucumber, dead as a doornail;
reduplicative words flimflam, tittle-tattle;
collocations,
idiomatic phrases,
PROVERBS bed and breakfast, footloose and fancy-free, Look before you leap;
nicknames and epithets Battling Bill, Tiny Tim, the Broadway Butcher;
tabloid newspaper headlines Saucy Sue brings home the bacon.
Alliterative verse
Verse that depends for its effect on alliteration. Such verse was unknown in classical Greek but common in Latin and the Celtic and Germanic languages. Old English verse such as the epic poem
BEOWULF was alliterative, as in: ‘ Hwæt, we gardena in geardagum, / þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, / hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon’. These lines have been translated into modern alliterative verse in 1973 by Michael Alexander as: ‘Attend! We have heard of the thriving of the throne of Denmark, / how the folk-kings flourished in former days’. Such verse died out with the coming of the Normans and consequent French influence, but was revived in the 13c. The best-known poems are Langland's
Piers Plowman and the anonymous
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (both 14c). Two lines from Langland run: ‘In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne, / I
shope me in shroudes, as I a
shepe were’ (shope dressed, shepe ship). See
ASSONANCE,
ENGLISH LITERATURE,
REDUPLICATION,
REPETITION.
Cite this article
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Jonas and the Panther: translation, alliteration, and Icelandic identity.
Magazine article from: Scandinavian Studies; 9/22/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...practice is a strict system of structural alliteration, (1) inherited from ancient Germanic...rhymed or unrhymed) observes strict alliteration rules. The use of structural alliteration has been adopted as a part of the program...
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Donka Minkova, Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Medium Aevum; 9/22/2004; ; 700+ words
; Donka Minkova, Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English...55.00 [pounds sterling]. Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English...is examined using evidence from alliteration, spelling, and their subsequent...
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Amazing alliteration and whiz-bang onomatopoeia: use these tools to add punch to your prose! (Power of Words).
Magazine article from: Writing!; 10/1/2002; ; 700+ words
; ...sounds suggest their meanings--and alliteration--the repetition of a first sound...bells: "tintinnabulation." AWESOME ALLITERATION "Frozen field." "A soup's self...onomatopoeia, I snuck in a few examples of alliteration, too. Actually, I didn't start...
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The power of Peter Piper: How alliteration enhances poetry, prose and memory.
Newspaper article from: NewsRx Health & Science; 8/31/2008; 693 words
; ...Shakespearian sonnets, alliterations have always been an...studies have shown that alliteration can act as a better...to demonstrate that alliterations retrieve similar sounding...alliterative sounds or no alliterations at all. A second...interaction between alliteration and memory. In ...
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Joan's World: 'Italians in America' DVD and alliterations
Newspaper article from: Oakland Tribune; 9/5/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...The word you are longingly looking for is "alliteration." By definition, alliteration refers to the "repetition of the same sounds...the school district there was enamored with alliteration. When it came time to add a new high school...
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Alliteration art.
Magazine article from: Highlights for Children; 8/1/2009; ; 424 words
; When words in a phrase start with the same sound, it's called alliteration. Look at the pictures below and see if you can describe them using alliteration. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Your answers may be different.) [ILLUSTRATION...
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 "The Economist (US)")
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Alliteration abuse. (slogans) (Editorial)
Magazine article from: The Economist (US); 1/15/1994; 700+ words
; ...unforgettable as the theme tunes to "Neighbours" or "Cheers". Alliteration is one of those rhetorical tools designed to lend resonance...greatest political wordsmiths have used rhyme and repetition, alliteration and assonance, to turn plain thoughts into poetry. Winston...
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Lavish, lively alliteration laces laudable ABCs
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 10/11/1987; ; 700+ words
; ...the eyes - and ears - of readers of all ages. Seldom has alliteration found such a home as it does in the following oversized books...pull and push the mind of the reader in new directions. The alliteration in this book is not as strong as the others, but the insight...
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Alliteration and sound change in early English.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 2/1/2006; 462 words
; 0521573173 Alliteration and sound change in early English. Minkova, Donka. Cambridge U. Pr. 2003 400 pages $100.00 Hardcover Cambridge studies...
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BLOCK THAT ALLITERATION!
Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 11/15/2003; 387 words
; ...21ST CENTURY), AND AL SHARPTON'S SPEECH IS TERSE WITH VERSE, BUT THE PREFERRED RHETORICAL DEVICE FOR JOHN KERRY MAY BE ALLITERATION. HE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED HIS PLAN FOR "ENVIRONMENTAL EMPOWERMENT ZONES" AND A "TOXICS TASK FORCE" TO CREATE A "CONSERVATION...
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alliteration
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
alliteration , the repetition of the same starting...powerful rhythmic and thematic uses of alliteration are contained in Beowulf, written...Pearl, The ). Shakespeare parodies alliteration in Peter Quince's Prologue in A Midsummer...
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ALLITERATION
Book article from: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
ALLITERATION, also head rhyme , initial rhyme...foreknowledge absolute’ ( Milton). Alliteration can serve both a mnemonic and an ornamental...Verse that depends for its effect on alliteration. Such verse was unknown in classical...
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rhyme
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...assonance (repetition of related vowel sounds), and alliteration (repetition of consonants, particularly at the beginning...until the introduction of blank verse in the 16th cent. Alliteration and assonance were both called rhyme by early writers, but...
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Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices
Book article from: -Ologies and -Isms
...monologue. adnomination Obsolete. 1. paronomasia. 2. alliteration. Also called agnomination, annomination . aeolism a tendency to longwindedness. —aeolisdc, adj. alliteration the repetition of a sound, especially a consonant...
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versification
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...definite break in the middle of the line; and a pattern of alliteration (repetition of consonant sounds), usually of three of...measures of verse and have experimented with assonance, alliteration, sprung rhythm, and free verse . Bibliography: See G...
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