Alliteration in English- A Figure of Speech

What is Alliteration:

Alliteration in English is a figure of speech. In alliteration, there is a close repetition of the same consonant sound or syllable, usually at the beginning. The use of alliteration makes the language musical. Alliteration is similar to Assonance which is another figure of speech. Read about Assonance also.

For example:

“A strong man struggling with the storms of fate.”

In literature, alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within a group of words, even those spelled differently. As a method of linking words for effect, alliteration is also called head rhyme or initial rhyme.
Examples

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.

Black bug bit a big black bear. …

How to Identify Alliteration- A Figure of Speech

The best way to spot alliteration in a sentence is to sound out the sentence, looking for the words with the identical beginning of consonant sounds.

Examples of Alliteration Poems

Alliteration is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words that are close to each other. Alliteration uses consonant sounds at the beginning of a word to give stress to its syllable by lending a strong rhythm and musical structure to any verse.
A classic example is:

“She sells sea shells by the sea-shore.”

Another fan-favorite is:

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Poems with alliteration can be easier to memorize, that’s why anyone can be able to easily recall the nursery rhymes associated with his childhood. Consider the alliteration of the “b” sounds in a famous poem “Betty Botter.”

Betty Botter bought some butter,
“But,” she said, “the butter’s bitter;
If I put it in my batter,
It will make my batter bitter;
But a bit of better butter,
That would make my batter better.”
So she bought a bit of butter,
Better than her bitter butter,
And she put it in her batter,
And the batter was not bitter;
So it was better that Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter

Watch the video below related to this post for better understtanding.

Check out other literary devices here

Irony

Assonance 

3 thoughts on “Alliteration in English- A Figure of Speech”

  1. kamrulislamkholil

    Very good discussion. It could have better if a section is added where you discuss some famous alliterations of literature.

  2. Hello ..I really liked your post , but just to inform you that there are some broken links in some of your old posts , use some of tools online to check and correct this links hope that can help you to improve your blog posts keep writing the great stuff

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