Alliteration

Alliteration is a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same consonant sound or letter. Alliteration is a frequent tool in poetry but it is also common in prose, particularly to highlight short phrases. Especially in poetry, it contributes to euphony of the passage, lending it a musical air. It may act to humorous effect. Related to alliteration are assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds, and consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds.

Examples

Examples of alliteration include well-known tongue-twisters such as "Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran" and "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

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Examples of consonance include "Sparkling...Flavorful...Miller High Life" (advertising slogan for Miller beer).

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Literary examples

• "Full in the passage of the vale, above, / A sable, silent, solemn forest stood;" James Thomson, The Castle of Indolence, Canto I, 37-38
• "I should hear him fly with the high fields / And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land." Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill, II 50-51
• "Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle, walle zur Wiege! Wagala weia! / Wallala weiala weia!" Richard Wagner
• "Sing a song of sixpence..." Nursery rhyme

Common examples

Like rhyme, alliteration is a great help to memory: it is 'catchy', and frequently used in news headlines, corporate names, literary titles, advertising, buzzwords, and nursery rhymes.

Related Topics:
Rhyme - News - Advertising - Nursery rhyme

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• Amber Alert
• back to basics
• balance the books
• Big Ben
• boom or bust
• Coca-Cola
• do or die
• Donald Duck
• green as grass
• hale and hearty
• making magic
• Mickey Mouse
• Minnie Mouse
• Monday morning
• the more the merrier
• pay the price
• peer-to-peer
• poor but proud
• sink or swim
• Super Sonic
• it takes two to tango
• watchful waiting

Occasionally parents and authors use alliteration in the naming of their children and characters:

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• Woody Woodpecker

It is also common in the naming of many comic book super heroes:

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• Clark Kent
• Lois Lane
• Peter Parker
• Scott Summers
• Warren Worthington III
• Betsy Braddock
• Matthew Michael Murdock - Matt Murdock
• Reed Richards
• Susan Storm