alliteration
Repeated opening sounds
Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words or syllables: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
The device appears throughout poetry, advertising, and memorable phrases—busy as a bee, dead as a doornail.
Strictly, alliteration refers to consonant sounds; the vowel equivalent is assonance.
Vowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
- sibilanceHissing quality in speech
- onomatopoeiaSound-imitating word formation
- rhymeMatching terminal sounds
meter · prosody · diction · imagery · figurative language · poetic device · repetition · euphony
Alliterative rhyme's vegetable gatherer
- she sells seashellsAlliterative articulation challenge
- rubber baby buggy bumpersProtective carriage padding
- woodchuckNorth American burrowing marmot
- fuzzy wuzzyIndistinct and soft-edged
Repeated opening words
- epistropheRepeating concluding words
- chiasmusInverted parallel construction
- parallelismMatching structural elements
- zeugmaOne word, multiple applications
antithesis · tricolon · amplification · climax · repetition · persuasion · emphasis · oratory
Analyzing verse rhythm patterns
- meterDevice that measures usage
- iambTwo-syllable metrical foot
- trocheeStressed-then-unstressed foot
- dactylFinger, toe, or verse foot
anapest · spondee · foot · stress pattern · rhythm · cadence · beat · tempo
Technique assisting recall
- recallMemory retrieval act
- retentionContinued holding or possession
- catchphraseSignature line of words
- jingleBrief advertising melody
slogan · brand name · acronym · chunking · association · repetition · cognitive · educational
assonance
Vowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
- sibilanceHissing quality in speech
- onomatopoeiaSound-imitating word formation
rhyme · meter · prosody · diction · imagery · figurative language · poetic device · repetition · euphony · cacophony
Peter Piper
Alliterative rhyme's vegetable gatherer
- she sells seashellsAlliterative articulation challenge
- rubber baby buggy bumpersProtective carriage padding
- woodchuckNorth American burrowing marmot
anaphora
Repeated opening words
- epistropheRepeating concluding words
- chiasmusInverted parallel construction
- parallelismMatching structural elements
zeugma · antithesis · tricolon · amplification · climax · repetition · persuasion · emphasis · oratory · speechwriting
scansion
Analyzing verse rhythm patterns
dactyl · anapest · spondee · foot · stress pattern · rhythm · cadence · beat · tempo · flow
memory aid
Technique assisting recall
- recallMemory retrieval act
- retentionContinued holding or possession
- catchphraseSignature line of words
jingle · slogan · brand name · acronym · chunking · association · repetition · cognitive · educational · memorable
consonant
In agreement with
- onsetStarting point of something
- plosiveConsonant with blocked release
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
sibilant · nasal · voicing · articulation · phoneme · syllable · stress · pronunciation · labial · dental
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- literary elementsplot, character, setting, theme, narrator
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- books and reading poetrypoetry, poems, verse, sonnets, haiku
- repetitionagain, repeat, repeated, recurring, recurrence
alliterationrhyme
Matching terminal sounds
end rhyme · perfect rhyme · assonance · consonance · slant rhyme