Alliteration

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In language, alliteration is the repetition of a particular sound in the prominent lifts (or stressed syllables) of a series of words or phrases. Alliteration has developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to the poem's meter, are stressed[citation needed], as in James Thomson's verse "Come…dragging the lazy languid Line along". Another example is Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.[1]

In alliterative verse, the alliteration that is relevant to the metre is the lift of the half-line (a lift being a stressed syllable); the ironic example often given to illustrate this is that the word alliteration itself alliterates on the consonant l, not a (the a of alliteration being marked as a dip or unstressed syllable, hence non-alliterating) - thus, bold beauty is an alliterative formula, between beauties is not, etc.

Consonance (ex: As the wind will bend) is another 'phonetic agreement' akin to alliteration. Assonance is also often in said category (ex: she loves the thunder), though is more akin to true-rhyme than alliteration (assonance-rhyme being a main feature of Old Celtic verseforms). Alliteration may also include the use of different consonants with similar properties[2] such as alliterating z with s, as does Tolkien in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, or as Anglo-Saxon (Old English) poets would alliterate hard/fricative g with soft g (the latter exemplified in some courses as the letter yogh - ȝ - pronounced like the y in yarrow or the j in Jotunheim); this is known as license. The concept is that the sounds are formed orally with exceptional similarity (which can be exampled simply by pronouncing the difference between z and s, or f and v likewise being acceptable as license in alliterative verse).

Alliteration is commonly used in many languages, especially in poetry. Alliterative verse was an important ingredient of poetry in "Sanskrit Shlokas",[3][4] Old English, Old Norse and Old Irish especially - as well as other old Germanic languages like Old High German, and Old Saxon. This custom extended to personal name giving, such as in Old English given names.[5] This is evidenced by the unbroken series of 9th century kings of Wessex named Æthelwulf, Æthelbald, Æthelberht, and Æthelred. These were followed in the 10th century by their direct descendants Æthelstan and Æthelred II, who ruled as kings of England.[6] The Anglo-Saxon saints Tancred, Torhtred and Tova provide a similar example, among siblings.[7]

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Alliteration in poetry and literature [edit]

  • The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe has many examples of alliteration including the following line : "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain."
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner has the following lines of alliteration : "For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky." and "the furrow followed free...".
  • Robert Frost's poem Acquainted with the Night has the following line of alliteration : "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet."
  • Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan's poem "I, She and the Sea" has many alliterative word strings such as : "as the surf surged up the sun swept shore...".
  • The poem Dancing Dolphins by Paul McCann has the following brilliant example : "Those tidal thoroughbreds that tango through the torqouise tide/ Their taut tails thrashing, they twist in tribute to the Titans/ The twirl through the trek/ Tumbling towards the tide/ Throwing themselves towards those theatrical thespians."

Examples in nursery rhymes [edit]

  • In the nursery rhyme Three Grey Geese by Mother Goose, use of alliteration can be found in the following lines : "the Three grey geese in a green field grazing. Grey were the geese and green was the grazing."
  • The tongue-twister rhyme Betty Botter by Carolyn Wells is a brilliant example of alliterative composition : "Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said, this butter's bitter; if I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better..."

Pop culture [edit]

Alliteration is most commonly used in modern music but is also seen in magazine article titles, advertisements, business names, comic strip and cartoon characters. :[8]

Examples [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ James Thomson. The Castle of Indolence. ISBN 0-19-812759-6. 
  2. ^ Stoll, E. E. (May 1940). "Poetic Alliteration". Modern Language Notes 55 (5): 388. 
  3. ^ http://www.jstor.org/stable/599756
  4. ^ K.N. Jha, Figurative Poetry In Sanskrit Literature, 1975, ISBN 978-8120826694
  5. ^ Gelling, M., Signposts to the Past (2nd edition), Phillimore, 1988, pp. 163–4.
  6. ^ Old English "Æthel" translates to modern English "noble". For further examples of alliterative Anglo-Saxon royal names, including the use of only alliterative first letters, see e.g. Yorke, B., Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, Seaby, 1990, Table 13 (p. 104; Mercia, names beginning with "C", "M", and "P"), and pp. 142–3 (Wessex, names beginning with "C"). For discussion of the origins and purposes of Anglo-Saxon "king lists" (or "regnal lists"), see e.g. Dumville, D.N., 'Kingship, Genealogies and Regnal Lists', in Sawyer, P.H. & Wood, I.N. (eds.), Early Medieval Kingship, University of Leeds, 1977.
  7. ^ Rollason, D.W., 'Lists of Saints' resting-places in Anglo-Saxon England', in Anglo-Saxon England 7, 1978, p. 91.
  8. ^ Coard, Robert L. Wide-Ranging Alliteration. Peabody Journal of Education, Vol. 37, No. 1. (July 1959) pp. 30–32.

External links [edit]

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