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headless 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 in which the beginning syllable is omitted, creating truncated rhyming words or lines

Detailed Definition
Headless rhyme refers to a rhyming pattern where the initial consonant or syllable is dropped or altered while the remainder of the word rhymes (e.g., “light” and “flight” vs. “light” and “ight”), often used in dialect poetry, punning verse, or experimental forms to create playful, subversive, or phonetically inventive effects that challenge standard rhyming conventions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Headless rhyme: rhyme occurring at line beginnings rather than ends; Rare, but used in riddles or charms—“Cat creeps. / Cow calls.”; A modern experimental poem where all lines start with “Star”; Headless rhyme disrupts convention and foregrounds initial sound; Often paired with heading rhyme for sonic density.
Additional Notes
A rare rhyming pattern where the rhyming syllables appear at the beginning of lines, often overlapping with alliteration or initial rhyme; focuses attention on the start of phrases rather than the end.
Also Known As
acephalous rhyme deficient rhyme truncated rhyme decapitated rhyme
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