Alliteration
Alliteration is the name for repeating sounds in words.The repeated sound is usually at the beginning of words.
examples
She sells sea shells on the sea shore
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper
Use
Alliteration is used to create special effects.It is used a lot in nursery rhymes and poetry.It's also used in pop songs, and in advertising. It makes them easier to remember.
Assonance
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:
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye
The same sound here is produced by /ei/, /i/, /ie/, and /ye/.
Note: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds, whereas assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.
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Comments: 6
Thanks for the refresher course.
Now, I gotta go and untwist my tongue. Ouch!
Merriam-Webster defines it as"the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables".
The American Heritage Dictionary has this to say: "The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds."
If you google "aliteración" for Spanish, "alliterazione" for Italian, or "alliteráció" in Hungarian (no doubt the source of my bias :-) you will find definitions that include vowels.
On the other hand, French "allitération" turns up some definitions referring to consonants only, similar to the ones you quote.
The wiki article in French is more precise, stating that "alliteration can be an assonance, using the sound of a vowel repetitively, or a consonance, using the sound of a consonant repetitively" (sorry, bad translation, but something like that), and then goes on to say that "nevertheless in the current sense" assonance is used for vowels and alliteration for consonants only. So now we know who muddied the waters :-)
Note that if you use the wider definition, the title of your article alliterates.
Disclaimer: my maiden name alliterates in "A", as I have always been told, so I clearly have a vested interest in this matter :-)
LOL, I just noticed Ricky's post - he seems to think he's alliterating, isn't he?