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Holorime

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 entire lines rhyme perfectly word-for-word with other entire lines.

Detailed Definition
Holorime is an extreme form of rhyme where entire lines sound identical despite differing in meaning and spelling (e.g., “pâte fine” / “patte fine” in French), creating homophonic puns that challenge semantic stability; in English, near-holorimes like “I scream” / “ice cream” are rare but exploited by poets like Ashbery or the Oulipo for comic, surreal, or philosophical effect, foregrounding the slippage between sound and sense in linguistic representation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Holorime: entire lines sound identical but differ in meaning; French example: “Gall, amant de la reine, alla, tour magnanime” / “Galamment de la Reine à la Tour Magne à Nîmes”; English attempt: “For I scream / For ice cream”; Nearly impossible in English; prized in French versification.
Additional Notes
Perfect homophonic rhyme where entire lines sound identical but use different words. Extreme constraint creating puns at line level. French specialty; extremely difficult in English.
Also Known As
Perfect homophones Total sound-match Complete echo-rhyme
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