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shape 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 based on visual or typographic similarity rather than sound

Detailed Definition
Shape rhyme is a form of rhyme based not on sound but on visual or typographic similarity—such as words with identical letter patterns or mirrored structures—used experimentally to create visual puns or conceptual echoes; though rare, it appears in concrete poetry where the appearance of words on the page contributes to meaning as much as their phonetic qualities.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Through” and “flew” share vowel sound but differ in consonants, creating assonant shape rhyme; “light” and “mind” rhyme in vowel shape despite different endings; “lake” and “fate” use long “a” for partial rhyme; slant rhymes like “stone” and “frown” match final consonants with differing vowels.
Additional Notes
Shape rhyme links words based on visual similarity (e.g., “love”/“loved”) rather than sound; a rare, experimental technique in visual or concrete poetry.
Also Known As
Visual rhyme orthographic rhyme typographic rhyme sight-based rhyme Iconic Couplet
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