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Consonance

Sound
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

Repetition of consonant sounds, typically at word ends or stressed syllables.

Explore this topic in depth (3)

Sound Devices in Poetry — Sound devices are the patterns of speech that make a poem memorable to the ear as well as meaningful on the page. This guide explains how to hear alliteration, assonance, consonance and other effects, and how to describe what they do without reducing sound to a checklist.

How to Read Poetry Aloud — Reading poetry aloud is not about sounding theatrical. It is a way of listening more closely to how sentences, lines, rhythms, sounds and silences work together.

Rhyme — Rhyme is more than a matching sound at the ends of lines. This guide explores how poets use rhyme to organise language, create expectation, make connections between words and alter what we hear when a poem is read or sung.

Detailed Definition
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at word endings (e.g., "blank/thank"), creating subtle sonic texture; it enhances musicality without full rhyme, prominent in slant-rhyme traditions from Dickinson to Heaney.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Pitter-patter of rain on the roof”; “The lisp of leaves in the wind”; Poe’s “silken, sad, uncertain rustling”; Alliteration’s cousin: repeated consonant sounds within words for musicality
Additional Notes
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words (e.g., “pitter-patter”); it creates subtle sonic texture and is key to slant rhyme and musicality in free verse.
Other Meanings of “Consonance”
Also Known As
Consonant rhyme consonantal echo partial rhyme consonant harmony Consonantal rhyme Half rhyme
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