Onomatopoeia Definition
Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.
For instance, saying, “The gushing stream flows in the forest” is a more meaningful description than just saying, “The stream flows in the forest.” The reader is drawn to hear the sound of a “gushing stream” which makes the expression more effective.
In addition to the sound they represent, many onomatopoeic words have developed meanings of their own. For example, “whisper” not only represents the sound of people talking quietly, but also describes the action of people talking quietly.
Common Examples of Onomatopoeia
- The buzzing bee flew away.
- The sack fell into the river with a splash.
- The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
- He looked at the roaring sky.
- The rustling leaves kept me awake.
The different sounds of animals are also considered as examples of onomatopoeia. You will recognize the following sounds easily:
- Meow
- Moo
- Neigh
- Tweet
- Oink
- Baa
Alliteration
Alliteration Definition
Alliteration is derived from Latin’s “Latira”. It means “letters of alphabet”. It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.
Consider the following examples:
- But a better butter makes a batter better.
- A big bully beats a baby boy.
Both sentences are alliterative because the same first letter of words (B) occurs close together and produces alliteration in the sentence. An important point to remember here is that alliteration does not depend on letters but on sounds. So the phrase not knotty is alliterative, but cigarette chase is not.
Common Examples of Alliteration
In our daily life, we notice alliteration in the names of different companies. It makes the name of a company catchy and easy to memorize. Here are several common alliteration examples.
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- PayPal
- Best Buy
- Coca-Cola
- Life Lock
- Park Place
- American Apparel
- American Airlines
- Chuckee Cheese’s
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Krispy Kreme
- The Scotch and Sirloin
We also find alliterations in names of people, making such names prominent and easy to be remembered. For instance, both fictional characters and real people may stand out prominently in your mind due to the alliterative effects of their names. Examples are:
- Ronald Reagan
- Sammy Sosa
- Jesse Jackson
- Michael Moore
- William Wordsworth
- Mickey Mouse
- Porky Pig
- Lois Lane
- Marilyn Monroe
- Fred Flintstone
- Donald Duck
- Spongebob Squarepants
- Seattle Seahawks
Assonance
Assonance Definition
Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds.
For instance,
“Men sell the wedding bells.”
The same vowel sound of the short vowel “-e-” repeats itself in almost all the words excluding the definite article. The words do share the same vowel sounds but start with different consonant sounds unlike alliteration that involves repetition of the same consonant sounds. Below are a few assonance examples that are more common:
Common Assonance Examples
- We light fire on the mountain.
- I feel depressed and restless.
- Go and mow the lawn.
- Johnny went here and there and everywhere.
- The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.
Rhyme
Rhyme Definition
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of lines in poems or songs.
A rhyme is a tool utilizing repeating patterns that brings rhythm or musicality in poems which differentiate them from prose which is plain. A rhyme is employed for the specific purpose of rendering a pleasing effect to a poem which makes its recital an enjoyable experience. Moreover, it offers itself as a mnemonic device smoothing the progress of memorization. For instance, all nursery rhymes contain rhyming words in order to facilitate learning for children as they enjoy reading them and the presence of repetitive patterns enables them to memorize that particular poem effortlessly. We do not seem to forget the nursery rhymes we learnt as a kid. Below are a few nursery rhyme examples with rhyming words in bold and italics:
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses, And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!
Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day, which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about till Mary did appear.
Rhythm
Definition of rhythm
The word rhythm is derived from rhythmos (Greek) which means, “measured motion”. Rhythm is a literary device which demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables particularly in verse form.
Graphon
Intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word (or word combination) used to reflect its pronunciation is called graphon.
"The b-b-b-b-bas-tud-he seen me c-c-c-c-com-ing" in R. P. Warren's Sugar Boy's speech or "You don't mean to thay that thith ith your firth time" (D.C.) show the physical defects of the speakers - the stumbling of one and the lisping of the other.
Capitalization- is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter and the remaining letters in lower case. This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction. The term is also used for the choice of case in text.
Italics
According to the frequency of usage, variability of functions, the first place among graphical means of foregrounding is occupied by italics. Besides italicizing words to add to their logical or emotive significance, separate syllables and morphemes may also be emphasized by italics