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Eye 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

Defined by visual similarity in spelling despite different pronunciations, e.g., “love/remove,” “cough/bough,” or “come/home.”

Explore this topic in depth (1)

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
It’s most commonly called an “eye rhyme” (also “visual rhyme”): the words look like they should rhyme because of their spelling, but the sounds don’t actually match (come/home).
Example
Example in poetry:
"But since the man that runs away
Lives to die another day,
And cowards' funerals, when they come
Are not wept so well at home."

From “The Day of Battle” by A. E. Housman, from A Shropshire Lad.
Additional Notes
Words that look like rhymes but sound different. "love/move," "though/cough." Visual rhyme only. Also called "sight rhyme." Related: slant rhyme, half rhyme. Common in English due to spelling/sound mismatches.
Also Known As
Visual rhyme sight rhyme orthographic rhyme spelling rhyme Ocular rhyme Mind rhyme
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