What does assonantal mean?
Assonantal is an adjective meaning connected with assonance, the close repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words. It is especially useful in literary criticism and prosody when a passage is shaped by echoes such as the long “o” of “low” and “snow” or repeated “ee” sounds in successive phrases. The word is formal and relatively uncommon, so writers often use the noun assonance instead: “the poem’s assonance” is more familiar than “the poem’s assonantal quality.” An assonantal effect differs from alliteration, which repeats initial consonant sounds, although both devices can occur together. Although “assonantal” can describe any recurrence of matching vowels, it is particularly associated with poetry, chants, song lyrics, and deliberately rhythmic prose. Learning it is useful because it names the principle behind a common feature of memorable language while allowing a writer or reader to distinguish vowel repetition from consonantal patterning.
adjectiveRelating to or characterized by assonance, especially the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words.
- Relating to or characterized by the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words.
"The incantatory refrain creates an assonantal echo across each line."
"The incantatory refrain creates an assonantal echo across each line."
"Her analysis identifies the assonantal pattern linking the title to the closing stanza."
Assonantal is alliteration's vowel-powered cousin—though one repeats vowels and the other repeats consonants.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does assonantal come from?
Assonantal was formed in English from assonant and the suffix -al. Assonant came through French from a Latin present participle meaning “sounding to” or “agreeing in sound,” ultimately based on the Latin verb sonare, “to sound.” The wider Latin sound-word family also includes consonare, “to sound together,” the source of consonance and consonant.
How assonantal is actually used
A specialized, chiefly literary and rhetorical term; it is uncommon in everyday speech but is not regionally restricted.
Easily confused with assonantal
Assonance is the repeated vowel-sound pattern itself, while assonantal is the adjective describing something that contains or is characterized by it.