Home › Glossary › Letter A

alternating-direction rhyme

Rhyme
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rhyme pattern that follows back-and-forth progression of boustrophedon

Detailed Definition
Alternating-direction rhyme occurs when rhyme patterns shift orientation between stanzas or sections, such as alternating between forward-moving and backward-moving rhyme schemes. This might involve switching between ABAB and CDDC patterns, or between rhymes that connect consecutive stanzas and those that don't. The directional changes create dynamic variation in sonic organization, preventing monotony while maintaining rhyme as a structural principle throughout the poem.
Example
Example in poetry:
In the poem, the first line rhymed with the fourth, and the second line rhymed with the third (abba), creating an alternating-direction rhyme that turned back on itself.
Additional Notes
alternating-direction rhyme is a form of highly structured or experimental rhyme where the rhyming words in a set (like a couplet or quatrain) are arranged so they are read or relate in a back-and-forth or chiasmic manner.
Also Known As
Crisscross rhyme Zigzag pattern Bidirectional rhyme Boustrophedonic rhyme
Skip to main content