ALLITERATIONALLITERATIONALLITERATIONALLITERATION

Presented by,Presented by,

S.M.Jeba PrincyS.M.Jeba Princy

Main Entry: al·lit·er·a·tion

Pronunciation: \ə-ˌli-tə-ˈrā-shən\ Function: noun Etymology: ad- + Latin littera letter Date: circa 1624

Bio-data of Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of a leading vowel or consonant sound in a phrase. Alliteration can take the form of assonance, the repetition of a vowel, or consonance, the repetition of a consonant; however, unlike a strict definition of alliteration, both assonance and consonance can regularly occur within words as opposed to being limited to the word's initial sound. Some critics hold the opinion that the term "alliteration" applies just as accurately to phonetic repetitions that occur elsewhere than the initial position (first letter), sometimes falling on later syllables, yet retaining alliterative properties due to the form of the example's meter, which, through affecting the syllable’s stress may mimic the intensity of the initial.

What is Alliteration?

Further, the use of differing consonants of similar properties (labials, dentals, etc.) is sometimes considered to be alliteration. Books aimed at young readers often use alliteration, as it consistently captures children's interest.Alliteration in English survives today most obviously in flashy magazine article titles, advertisements and business names, comic strip or cartoon characters, and generally cliché expressions.

Alliteration is fun to say and enjoyable to hear. Without knowing it, you probably use alliteration to call attention to certain words. Many familiar phrases and expressions use alliteration. These include "down in the dumps," "hale and hearty," and "turn the tables." Tongue twisters rely on alliteration.: "rubber baby buggy bumpers”. Many sayings such as these use alliteration: ‘He who laughs last laughs first’. ‘Time and tide wait for no man’. When writers want to emphasize certain words, they may use alliteration. Notice the ideas that are emphasized by alliteration in these examples: The deep churned. Something had happened down in the dim, foggy-green depths. --Paul Annixter,"Battle in the Depths" Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail.

ALLITERATION IN PROSE

--Helen Keller, "The Seeing See Little" There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing. --Lorraine Hans berry, A Raisin in the Sun

ALLITERATION IN POETRYAlliteration is one of the poet's most important sound techniques. It makes particular words stand out. It also connects the words to be emphasized. Look for the repeated consonant sounds in this poem: Then up and spake an old sailor,Had sailed to the Spanish Main,"I pray thee, put into yonder port,For I fear a hurricane."--Henry W. Longfellow, "The Wreck of Hesperus" Often the sounds and meanings of the words combine to create a mood. Here, repetition of b and t stresses a feeling of urgency. Hear the loud alarum bells--Brazen bells!What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!

--Edgar Allen Poe, "The Bells" What consonant sounds are repeated in the following lines? Swing low, sweet chariot,Comin' for to carry me home.

Rules for Alliteration But it's very important to be clear what counts as alliteration and what does not. There are several common misconceptions. So let's clear them up, and add a few other important facts:-

Proper alliteration is NOT a repetition of letters, it is a repetition of sounds. For example, fish and physics alliterate because they begin with the same consonant sound (f) - even though the initial letters are different.Conversely, tin and thin do not alliterate, because they begin with different consonant sounds, even though they start with the same letter.

Alliteration is NOT just repeating consonant sounds at the beginning of words. What matters is the strongest, stressed syllable of a word. The only consonant which counts is the one that starts the syllable with strongest stress.

For example, below the belt is NOT a good alliteration, because stress naturally falls on the second syllable of below, so you would have to alliterate on l not on b.On the other hand, above the belt is a good alliteration, because the stressed syllables both start with b.

Vowels alliterate with other vowels. For example, a phrase like ultimate evil alliterates because both stressed syllables start with a vowel.

Some special cases: In the best usage, the consonant s (when followed immediately by a vowel) does NOT alliterate with the consonant clusters sp, st, or sk, or with similar but distinct sounds like sh. In some older forms of alliterative poetry, words starting with h alliterate with words starting with a vowel. This doesn't work in my dialect of English, which never drops an h. You will need to judge this point for yourself.

Examples In clichés: sweet smell of success, a dime a

dozen, bigger and better, jump for joyWordsworth: And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.

A famous example is to be found in the two lines by Tennyson:

The moan of doves in immemorial elms,And murmuring of innumerable bees.

The ancient poets often used alliteration instead of rhyme; in Beowulf there are three alliterations in every line. For example:

Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings, Leader beloved, and long he ruled In fame with all folk since his father had gone . . .

Modern poets also avail themselves of alliteration, especially as a substitute for rhyme. Edwin Markham's “Lincoln, the man of the people" is in unrhymed blank verse, but there are many lines as alliterative as: ‘She left the Heaven of Heroes and came down To make a man to meet the mortal need A man to match the mountains and the sea The friendly welcome of the wayside well’.Robert Frost’s, “The death of the Hired man" begins: ‘Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the tableWaiting for Warren. When she heard his step. . . .’The eye immediately sees the alliteration in the "m's" in "Mary sat musing" and the "w's" in "Waiting for Warren. When. . . ." But it is the car that picks up the half-buried in "sounds in" lamp-flame sounds which act like faint and distant rhymes.

It is the alliteration which makes us remember such phrases as: "sink or swim," "do or die," "fuss and feathers," "the more the merrier," "watchful waiting," "poor but proud," "hale and hearty," "green as grass," "live and learn," "money makes the mare go." While alliteration is the recurrence of single letter-sounds, there is another kind of recurrence which is the echo or repetition of a word or phrase. This is found in many kinds of poetry, from nonsense rhymes to ballads. The repeated words or syllables add an extra beat and accentuate the rhythm. They are often heard in "choruses" or "refrains," as in Shakespeare's "With a hey and a ho and a hey nonino" or Rudyard Kipling's: ‘For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Chuck him out, the brute!But it's "Savior of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.’

Excellent use of repetition occurs through the whole of Rudyard Kipling’s, “Tommy" “Danny Deever" and Alfred Noyes's “The Barrel-Organ" especially in such lines as: ‘Come down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time;Come down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer's wonderland;Come down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)’. Some little Examples are:-John received a brilliant, blue bird for his birthday.The four firefighters rushed to find the victims in the burning house.She picked up the plump peach.The solitary child sang a song.Dancing delicately Don ushered in the dawn of a new day.

These are some of the famous examples.

Alliteration Twisters – A to Z!

Angela Abigail Apple white ate anchovies and artichokes. Bertha Bartholomew blew big, blue bubbles. Clever Clifford Cutter clumsily closed the closet clasps. Dwayne Dwiddle drew a drawing of dreaded Dracula. Elmer Elwood eluded elven elderly elephants. Floyd Flingle flipped flat flapjacks. Greta Gruber grabbed a group of green grapes. Hattie Henderson hated happy healthy hippos. Ida Ivy identified the ivory iris. Julie Jackson juggled the juicy, jiggly jello. Karl Kessler kept the ketchup in the kitchen. Lila Ledbetter lugged a lot of little lemons.

Milton Mallard mailed a mangled mango. Norris Newton never needed new noodles. Patsy planter plucked plump, purple, plastic plums. Quinella Quist quite quickly quelled the quarreling quartet. Randy Rathbone wrapped a rather rare red rabbit. Shelly Sherman shivered in a sheer, short, shirt. Trina Tweety tripped two twittering twins under a twiggy tree.Uri Udall usually used his unique, unusual unicycle.Vicky Vinc viewd a very valuable vase.Walter Whipple warily warned the weary warrior.Xerxes Xenon expected to xerox extra x-rays.Yolana Yvonne Yarger yodeled up yonder yesterday. Zigmund Zane zigzagged through the zany zoo zone.

Isn’t it Funny?

Dressy Daffodils

"Dressy daffodils" is an example of alliteration because both the words begin with "D." Alliteration is like rhyming, but with alliteration the rhyming comes at the front of the words instead of the end.

Flower Alliteration

Rabbits Running Over Roses

"Rabbits running over roses" is another example of Alliteration because rabbits, running, and roses all begin with the same letter and sound the same.

Alliteration Rhymes

Caring Cats Caring cats cascade offLaughing lamas Lounging.Underneath yelling yaks,Yelling at roamingRats.

RainRain races,Ripping like wind.Its restless rageRattles likeRocks ripping throughThe air.

Laughing Lions

Laughing lions laugh like jumping jaguarson top of talking trees.Whenthetalking trees starttalking,the jokingjaguars falloff.

 

Wind Whistles

Wind whistles through the air,while talking turtles shiverlike sea horseswhile everyone is asleep.

Alliteration Classics

Below you will find some classic examples of alliteration. All of the poems below were written before 1918.Each poem has a link to more poems by that author.

The TygerTyger, tyger burning bright,

In the forest of the night;What immortal hand or eye

Could name thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder & what the art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?And when thy heart began to beat

What dread and? & what dread feet?atDare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spearsAnd water'd heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger burning bright,In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eyeDare frame thy fearful symmetry?

By William Blake1757-1827

The Tiger Asks Blake For A Bedtime Story

William, William, writing lateby the chill and sooty grate,

what immortal story canmake your tiger roar again?

When I sent to fetch your meatI confess that I did eat

half the roast and all the bread.He will never know, I said.

When I was sent to fetch your drink,I confess that I did think

you would never miss the threelumps of sugar by your tea. Soon I saw my health decline

and I knew the fault was mine.Only William Blake can telltales to make a tiger well. Now I lay me down to sleep

with bear and rabbit, bird and sheep.If I should dream before I wake,may I dream of William Blake.

By William Blake

Daddy's Gone A Hunting Bye, baby bunting,Daddy's gone a - hunting,Gone to get a rabbit skinTo wrap baby bunting in.

Don't delay dawns disarming display . Dusk demands daylight . Dewdrops dwell delicatelydrawing dazzling delight .Dewdrops dilute daisies domain. Distinguished debutantes . Diamonds defray delivereddaylights distilled daisy dance . By, Paul Mc Cann

Dewdrops Dancing Down Daisies

Some poems using Alliteration

Careless cars cutting corners create confusion .Crossing centerlines.Countless collisions cost coffins.Collect conscious change.Copy?Continue cautiously.Comply?Cool . By Paul McCann

Cipher Connected

Wise words wait,while whiskey with waterwill whet Wexfordwhistles wonderfully .Wisdoms weaver workswith wit ,while writing wordswith whispering winds whooshing wildly .Whiskey without water .Without wondering,why where words wasted .Within walls .While whiskey went well without water,While wit was wringing wet .Writing wisdoms wings

By, Paul Mc Cann

Wisdoms Wings

Dancing DolphinsThose tidal thoroughbreds that tango through the turquoise tide.

Their taut tails thrashing they twist in tribute to the titans.

They twirl through the trektumbling towards the tide .

Throwing themselves towards those theatrical thespians.

By, Paul McCann

Now it’s your turn. Do the following exercises to know how far you have grasped the above information and instructions.

I) Try writing 5 sentences using alliteration:- (Try some serious ones and some funny ones like the tongue twisters. Show them to your teacher for feedback. Good luck.)

Exercises

II) Make up your own alliterative phrases like the example given above:-

Ex:-Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (The first letter, p, is a consonant. It is repeated many times). Billy C_______ G__________Bob C_______ G___________Bought C_______ G ________Baby C_______ G __________Bottles C_______ G ________

III) Underline the alliteration in these sentences.1. Puny puma pit their skills against zebras.2. Pretty Polly picked pears for preserves.3. Handsome Harry hired hundreds of hippos for Hanukkah.

IV) Finish the following sentences with alliterative words.1. Doodling daughters __________________________________________.2. Prickly pears __________________________________________.3. Studious students __________________________________________.4. Sunny skies __________________________________________.

Bibliography

Source: Internet

From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia.

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration2. www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

alliteration.html)3. volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/1allitera.htm4. www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/

alliteration.html5. library.thinkquest.org/J0112392/alliteration.html6. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration7. home.vicnet.net.au/~poems/ps/html/

alliteration_examples. html.