View source for Assonance

{{short description|Repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming}}
{{for|the Czech folk band|Asonance}}
'''Assonance''' is the repetition of identical or similar [[phoneme]]s in words or syllables that occur close together, either in terms of their vowel phonemes (e.g., ''lean green meat'') or their consonant phonemes (e.g., ''Kip keeps capes '').<ref>''Chambers 21st Century Dictionary'' (1996).</ref> However, in [[Comparison of American and British English|American usage]], ''assonance'' exclusively refers to this phenomenon when affecting vowels, whereas, when affecting consonants, it is generally called [[Literary consonance|''consonance'']].<ref>Merriam-Webster [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consonance consonance].</ref> The two types are often combined, as between the words ''six'' and ''switch'', which contain the same vowel and similar consonants. If there is repetition of the same vowel or some similar vowels in literary work, especially in stressed syllables, this may be termed "vowel harmony" in poetry<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/art/assonance Assonance at Enciclopaedia Britannica]</ref> (though linguists have a different definition of "[[vowel harmony]]").

A special case of assonance is [[rhyme]], in which the endings of words (generally beginning with the vowel sound of the last stressed syllable) are identical—as in ''fog'' and ''log'' or ''history'' and ''mystery''. Vocalic assonance is an important element in [[Poetry|verse]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://outstandingwriting.com/assonance-and-consonance/ |title=Khurana, Ajeet "Assonance and Consonance" Outstanding Writing |access-date=2011-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316082852/http://outstandingwriting.com/assonance-and-consonance/ |archive-date=2011-03-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Assonance occurs more often in verse than in [[prose]]; it is used in English-language poetry and is particularly important in [[Old French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and the [[Celtic languages]].

Put another way, assonance is a rhyme, the identity of which depends merely on the [[vowel]] sounds. Thus, an assonance is merely a [[Syllabic verse|syllabic]] resemblance. For example, in [[W. B. Yeats]] poem, [[The Wild Swans at Coole (poem)]], Yeats rhymes the word ''swan'' with the word ''stone'', hence assonance.

==Examples==
English poetry is rich with examples of assonance and/or consonance:

{{Quotation|That solit'''''u'''''de which s'''''ui'''''ts abstr'''''u'''''ser m'''''u'''''sings|[[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]|"[[Frost at Midnight]]"}}

{{Quotation|on a pr'''''ou'''''d r'''''ou'''''nd cl'''''ou'''''d in  wh'''''i'''''te h'''''i'''''gh n'''''i'''''ght|[[E. E. Cummings]]|if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit}}

{{Quotation|His t'''''e'''''nder h'''''ei'''''r might b'''''ea'''''r his m'''''e'''''mory|[[William Shakespeare]]|"[[Sonnet 1]]"}}

It also occurs in prose:

{{Quotation|Soft language '''''i'''''ssued from their sp'''''i'''''tless l'''''i'''''ps as they sw'''''i'''''shed in low circles round and round the field, winding h'''''i'''''ther and th'''''i'''''ther through the weeds.|[[James Joyce]]|''[[Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]''}}

{{Quotation|The W'''''i'''''llow-Wr'''''e'''''n was tw'''''i'''''tter'''''i'''''ng h'''''i'''''s th'''''i'''''n l'''''i'''''ttle song, h'''''i'''''dd'''''e'''''n h'''''i'''''ms'''''el'''''f '''''i'''''n the dark s'''''el'''''v'''''e'''''dge of the r'''''i'''''ver bank.|[[Kenneth Grahame]]|''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''}}

[[Hip hop]] relies on assonance:

{{Quotation|Some v'''''o'''''dka that'll jumpst'''''ar'''''t my h'''''ear'''''t quicker than a sh'''''o'''''ck when I get sh'''''o'''''cked at the h'''''o'''''spital by the d'''''o'''''ctor when I'm n'''''o'''''t co'''''o'''''perating when I'm r'''''o'''''cking the table when he's '''''o'''''perating...|[[Eminem]]|"[[Without Me (Eminem song)|Without Me]]"}}

{{Quotation|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'''''ddly.|[[Big Pun]]|"Twinz"}}

It is also heard in other forms of popular music:
{{Quotation|I must conf'''''e'''''ss that in my qu'''''e'''''st I f'''''e'''''lt depr'''''e'''''ssed and r'''''e'''''stless|[[Thin Lizzy]]|"With Love"}}

{{Quotation|I never seen so many Dom'''''i'''''n'''''i'''''c'''''a'''''n w'''''o'''''m'''''e'''''n w'''''i'''''th c'''''i'''''nnam'''''o'''''n tans|[[Will Smith]]|"Miami"}}

{{Quotation|Dot m'''''y''''' '''''I'''''{{'}}s with '''''eye'''''brow pencils, close m'''''y''''' '''''eye'''''lids, h'''i'''de m'''''y''''' '''''eye'''''s. '''I'''{{'}}ll be '''''i'''''dle in m'''y''' '''''i'''''deals. Think of nothing else but '''''I'''''|[[Keaton Henson]]|"Small Hands"}}

Assonance is common in [[proverb]]s:
{{Quotation|The squ'''''ea'''''ky wh'''''ee'''''l gets the gr'''''ea'''''se.}}

{{Quotation|The e'''''ar'''''ly b'''''ir'''''d catches the w'''''or'''''m.}}

Total assonance is found in a number of [[Pashto]] proverbs from [[Afghan proverbs|Afghanistan]]: 
*''La zra na bal zra ta laar shta.'' "From one heart to another there is a way."<ref>p. 16, [[Edward Zellem|Zellem, Edward]]. 2014. ''Mataluna: 151 Pashto Proverbs.'' Cultures Direct.</ref>
*''Kha ghar lwar day pa sar laar lary.'' "Even if a mountain is very high, there is a path to the top."<ref>p. 66, [[Edward Zellem|Zellem, Edward]]. 2014. ''Mataluna: 151 Pashto Proverbs.'' Cultures Direct.</ref>

This poetic device can be found in the first line of [[Homer]]'s [[Iliad]]: {{grc-tr|Μ'''ῆ'''νιν ἄειδε, θεά, Π'''η'''λ'''η'''ϊάδεω Ἀχιλ'''ῆ'''ος}} ({{lang|grc|Μ'''ῆ'''νιν ἄειδε, θεά, Π'''η'''λ'''η'''ϊάδεω Ἀχιλ'''ῆ'''ος}}). Another example is ''Dies irae'' (probably by [[Thomas of Celano]]):

: ''Dies '''i'''ræ, d'''i'''es '''i'''lla''
: ''Solvet sæclum '''i'''n fav'''i'''lla,''
: ''Teste David cum S'''i'''b'''y'''lla.''

In [[Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' there are some stanzas with such repetition.

: ''così l’animo mio, ch’ancor fugg'''i'''v'''a''',''
: ''si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo''
: ''che non lasciò già mai persona v'''i'''v'''a'''.''

In the following strophe from [[Hart Crane]]'s "To Brooklyn Bridge" there is the vowel [i] in many stressed syllables.

: ''How many dawns, ch'''i'''ll from his r'''i'''ppling rest''
: ''The seagull’s w'''i'''ngs shall d'''i'''p and p'''i'''vot him,''
: ''Shedding white r'''i'''ngs of tumult, b'''ui'''lding high''
: ''Over the chained bay waters L'''i'''berty—''<ref>[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43262 Hart Crane, from "The Bridge: To Brooklyn Bridge" at Poetry Foundation.]</ref>

All [[rhyme]]s in a strophe can be linked by vowel harmony into one assonance. Such stanzas can be found in Italian or Portuguese poetry, in works by [[Giambattista Marino]] and [[Luís Vaz de Camões]]:

: ''Giunto a quel passo il giovinetto Alc'''i'''de,''
: ''che fa capo al camin di nostra v'''i'''ta,''
: ''trovò dubbio e sospeso infra due gu'''i'''de''
: ''una via, che’ due strade era part'''i'''ta.''
: ''Facile e piana la sinistra ei v'''i'''de,''
: ''di delizie e piacer tutta fior'''i'''ta;''
: ''l’altra vestìa l’ispide balze alp'''i'''ne''
: ''di duri sassi e di pungenti sp'''i'''ne.''<ref>[https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Adone/Canto_II Giambattista Marino, Adone, Canto II, stanza 1 (in Italian).]</ref>

This is [[ottava rima]]<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/art/ottava-rima  Ottava rima at Encyclopædia Britannica.]</ref> (abababcc),<ref>[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/ottava-rima Ottava rima at Poetry Foundation. ]</ref> a very popular form in the Renaissance that was first used in epic poems.

: ''As armas e os barões assinal'''a'''dos,''
: ''Que da ocidental praia Lusit'''a'''na,''
: ''Por mares nunca de antes naveg'''a'''dos,''
: ''Passaram ainda além da Taprob'''a'''na,''
: ''Em perigos e guerras esforç'''a'''dos,''
: ''Mais do que prometia a força hum'''a'''na,''
: ''E entre gente remota edific'''a'''ram''
: ''Novo Reino, que tanto sublim'''a'''ram;''<ref>[https://pt.wikisource.org/wiki/Os_Lus%C3%ADadas/I  Luís Vaz de Camões, Os Lusíadas, Canto Primeiro, stanza 1 (in Portuguese).  ]</ref>

There are many examples of vowel harmony in French,<ref>Roy Lewis, On Reading French Verse. A Study of Poetic Form, Oxford 1982, pp. 70–99, 149–190.</ref> Czech,<ref>Wiktor J. Darasz, Harmonia wokaliczna w poezji Vladimíra Holana, Almanach Czeski, 2006 (in Polish).</ref> and Polish<ref>Wiktor Jarosław Darasz, Mały przewodnik po wierszu polskim, Kraków 2003, pp. 179–185 (in Polish).</ref> poetry.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Poetry}}
*[[Alliteration]]
*[[Literary consonance]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.americanrhetoric.com/figures/assonance.htm Assonance], American Rhetoric: Rhetorical Figures in Sound
*[http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/assonance.html Assonance], Modern & Contemporary American Poetry, University of Pennsylvania
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090304005238/http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/assonance_def.html Definition of Assonance], Elements of Poetry, VirtuaLit

==Further reading==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Assonance |volume= 2 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund Gosse | pages = 786&ndash;787 |short= 1}}
* [[Roman Jakobson]], Jennifer Rowsell, [[Kate Pahl]] (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=76ZhCQAAQBAJ&dq=mukarovsky+vowel+repetitions&pg=PA427 The Routledge Handbook of Literacy Studies, p. 427.]
* [[Jan Mukařovský]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=k_9ORvXS-jsC&dq=mukarovsky+vowel+repetitions&pg=PA27 John Odmark, Language, Literature and Meaning, p. 27.]

{{Poetic forms}}
{{Figures of speech}}

[[Category:Poetic devices]]