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Single-use rhyme

Device
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 that appears only once in a poem, avoiding repetition to maintain freshness or underscore uniqueness.

Detailed Definition
A rhyme sound employed only once in a composition rather than recurring throughout, contrasting with established rhyme schemes that repeat sounds. This may result from complex schemes requiring many different rhymes or from deliberate choice to avoid repetition. Single-use rhymes demonstrate the range of phonetic possibilities while showing that not all rhymes need recurrence, as some poems employ unique sounds for each rhyming position without pattern repetition.
Example
Example in poetry:
“moon / soon” (used once, then abandoned); “heart / depart” (single occurrence in poem); “sky / goodbye” (rhyme appears only in closing couplet); “light / night” (used once for emotional climax); “sea / free” (sole rhyme in free verse context)
Additional Notes
Rhyme sound used only once in poem. Contrasts with repeated rhyme schemes. May be deliberate choice for variety or result of complex rhyme scheme requiring many different sounds.
Also Known As
One-time rhyme Unique rhyme Non-recurring sound Singular rhyme
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