Phonetic stylistic devices

Most frequently used phonetic devices are as follows: rhyme, rhythm, instrumentation.

Rhyme is the accord of syllables in words:

e.g. fact-attract; mood-intrude; news-refuse

Such an accord is met at the end of parallel lines in verses.

e.g. There were three kings into the east,

Three kings both great and high,

And they had sworn a solemn oath

John Barleycorn should die. (R. Burns)

Як умру, то поховайте

Мене на могилі,

Серед степу широкого,

На Вкраїні милій,

Щоб лани широкополі,

І Дніпро, і кручі

Було видно, було чути,

Як реве ревучий. (Т. Шевченко)

Rhythm is a mostly characteristic of poetry recurring stress pattern, an even alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. Sometimes is found in emotive prose.

e.g. Should you ask me, whence these stories,

Whence these legends and traditions,

With the odors of the forest,

With the dew and damp of meadows,

With the curling smoke of wigwams,

With the rushing of great rivers,

With their frequent repetitions,

And their wild reverberations,

As of thunder in the mountains? (H.W. Longfellow)

Гріє сонечко!

Усміхається небо яснеє,

Дзвонить пісеньку жайвороночок,

Затонувши десь у бездні-глибині

Кришталевого океану… (І. Франко)

Instrumentation, the art of selection and combining sounds to make utterances expressive and melodic, unites three basic stylistic devices: alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia.

Alliteration is a stylistically motivated repetition of similar or the same consonants.

e.g. S he s ells s ea s hells on the s ea s hore

P eter P iper p icked a p eck of p ickled p epper

На т ре т ій т иждень, у неді л ю,

Неначе л я л я в л ьо л і бі л ій,

С вятеє с онечко зійшло.

Alliteration is found in children’s rhymes, in advertising jingles, proverbs and sayings, set expressions, football chants because they are easily remembered.

e.g. Sna p, c ra ck le and p o p

Assonance is a stylistically motivated repetition of the same or similar vowels. The repeated sounds stand close together to create a euphonious effect. e.g. The r ai n in Sp ai n falls m ai nly on the pl ai n.

We love to sp oo n beneath the m oo n in J u ne.

Сл о в о, м о я ти є диная збро є,

М и не пов и нні заг и нуть обо є!

Мож е, в руках нев і домих брат і в

Ст а н е ш т и кращ и м м е ч е м н а к а т і в (Л. Українка).

Like alliteration, assonance makes texts easy to memorize. It is also popular in advertising for the same reason. It is usually combined with alliteration, sometimes – with rhyming, and other devices.

Onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds which imitate natural sounds: wind wailing, sea murmuring, rustling of leaves, bursts of thunder, sounds, produced by people and animals, etc. The sound combinations used are meant to have aural similarity with what they represent

e.g. Buzz=жужжать;

Roar=грохотать;

Cuckoo=куковать;

Cock-a-doodle-doo=кукареку;

Bow-bow=гав-гав;

Silver bells…how they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle…

Сонечко сяє, птахи цвірінькають. Тьох, тьох, тьох – заходився у гаю соловейко.