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Catoptric 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

A rhyme between a word and its mirror image (palindrome) or reflected concept

Detailed Definition
Catoptric rhyme describes rhymes that mirror each other in sound structure, such as reversals (“stop”/“pots”) or symmetrical phoneme arrangements; derived from “catoptrics” (the study of reflection), this rare technique emphasizes sonic reciprocity, often used in experimental or puzzle poetry to explore linguistic symmetry and perceptual doubling.
Example
Example in poetry:
Rhyme based on mirror symmetry: “stressed” / “desserts”; “stop” / “pots”; “live” / “evil”; “war” / “raw” — all reversed spellings creating sonic echoes
Additional Notes
Rhyme scheme creating mirror or reflection effects, often palindromic in arrangement. May use identical sounds reversed (ABCCBA) or visual symmetry. Related to chiastic rhyme but emphasizes optical mirroring.
Also Known As
mirror rhyme palindrome rhyme palindromic rhyme
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