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Merged 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

Rhyme created when terminal sounds of one word blend phonetically with initial sounds of the next, blurring word boundaries.

Detailed Definition
Merged rhyme describes near or slant rhymes where vowel or consonant sounds partially align (e.g., “love”/“move” or “song”/“young”), creating subtle sonic cohesion without perfect identity; Emily Dickinson and W.B. Yeats frequently use this technique to maintain musicality while allowing semantic flexibility.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 merges “love” and “remove” through slant rhyme; Dickinson merges “see” and “me” in near-rhyme for emotional effect; Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” merges “song” and “young” through assonance; Heaney’s “Digging” merges “ground” and “sound” through consonance
Additional Notes
Merged rhyme occurs when end words of lines share sounds but aren’t perfect rhymes (e.g., “stone”/“storm”)—creates subtle sonic linkage; common in modern free verse seeking musicality without rigidity.
Also Known As
Slant rhyme fusion assonant rhyme blend near-rhyme merger consonant rhyme pairing Fused rhyme Telescoping rhyme
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