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Ear 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 based on sound similarity rather than exact spelling, also called eye rhyme’s opposite

Detailed Definition
Ear rhyme, also known as eye rhyme’s counterpart, refers to words that sound alike but are spelled differently (e.g., “through” and “blue”), creating authentic sonic harmony; unlike eye rhymes that look alike but don’t sound alike, ear rhymes prioritize auditory pleasure and are foundational to musicality in oral and lyrical traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Emily Dickinson’s slant rhymes (“room”/“storm”) are classic ear rhymes; W.H. Auden’s “Lay your sleeping head” uses “boy”/“joy” as ear rhyme; Contemporary poet Kay Ryan uses near-miss sounds as ear rhyme; In hip-hop, ear rhyme includes assonance (e.g., “light”/“mind”); Ear rhyme appears in Celtic poetry’s consonance traditions.
Additional Notes
Ear rhyme: A visual rhyme that looks like it should rhyme but does not, due to changes in pronunciation over time (e.g., 'love' and 'prove' historically; or modern playful uses like 'cough' and 'rough'). Related: Eye rhyme.
Also Known As
Auditory rhyme Heard rhyme Sound rhyme Aural rhyme Auricular rhyme
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