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associative rhyme

Rhyme
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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

Rhyme based on conceptual or thematic association rather than sound alone

Detailed Definition
Associative rhyme is a non-traditional rhyming technique where words are linked not by identical or near-identical sounds but by conceptual, emotional, or imagistic associations—such as “moon” and “loneliness”—allowing poets to prioritize thematic resonance over strict phonetic matching, common in modernist and experimental poetry to evoke subtle psychological or symbolic connections.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan,” “pleasure-dome” and “Alph” evoke associative rhyme through exotic, dreamlike linkage rather than sound; In Plath’s “Daddy,” “ghastly statue” and “Luftwaffe” connect via historical and emotional association, not phonetic similarity; In Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” “barbaric yawp” and “roof” rhyme associatively through thematic boldness; In Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” “hyacinth girl” and “drowned Phoenician sailor” link through mythic and sensory association.
Additional Notes
Associative rhyme links words through conceptual, emotional, or sensory connections rather than sound (e.g., “dove” and “peace”); it’s prevalent in modernist and surrealist poetry where logic gives way to intuition; related to synesthetic or symbolic rhyme.
Also Known As
Conceptual rhyme thematic rhyme symbolic rhyme intuitive rhyme Oblique rhyme Thought-linked rhyme
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