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consonant harmony

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

The artful repetition or alignment of consonant sounds (excluding vowels) to create sonic texture, cohesion, or musicality within a poetic line or phrase.

Detailed Definition
Consonant harmony refers to the pleasing and deliberate correspondence of consonant sounds throughout a poem or passage, creating sonic coherence and musicality. Unlike alliteration, which focuses on initial consonant repetition, consonant harmony considers the overall pattern of consonantal sounds regardless of position within words. This technique contributes to the poem's acoustic texture, creating subtle connections between words and reinforcing relationships between ideas. Effective consonant harmony produces a sense of sonic unity and can work with vowel patterns to create rich, complex sound structures that enhance meaning and emotional effect.
Example
Example in poetry:
Consonant harmony: Repeated s-sounds creating smoothness in "soft summer sounds"; Liquid l's flowing through "long, lilting, lovely lines"; Matching m's in "morning mist"; Tennyson's use of liquid consonants for musical effect
Additional Notes
consonant harmony|The pleasing effect created by the repetition of consonant sounds across lines; less rigid than rhyme but creates cohesion.
Also Known As
consonantal concord phonetic unity sound accord Consonance
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