Definition
 Assonance is a figure of speech featuring the repetition of vowel sounds.
The repetitions are usually close together, to create a euphonious effect.
Examples
'The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.'
'We love to spoon 'neath the moon in June.'
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye
[TENNYSON - 'The Lady of Shalott']
Use
You
can see from these examples that the device is used a lot in song
lyrics and poetry.
Because
the vowels are 'open' sounds, it creates
a generally soothing effect.
The
repeated sound also makes the text easy
to memorise.
It
is also popular in advertising, for the same reasons.
The
repetition of vowel sounds creates rhyme
and a generally soothing effect.
Phonologically,
it is interesting to note that the same sound may be represented
by different combinations of letters:
The
same sound here is produced by /ei/, /i/, /ie/,
and /ye/. |
