A nitpick: the onset isn't "irrelevant for rhyming". Most English speakers would not say that words rhyme with themselves nor that homophones do. Whereas rimes must agree, onsets must not in order for (perfect) rhyme to happen.
For 50+ years I’ve been fascinated by Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with its mishmash of interior rhymes. One in particular “..get sick, get well, hang around the inkwell….” rhymes the same word “well” with itself but in two distinct meanings - cured and reservoir. The entire lyrics of the song, sung at its ripping tempo almost becomes a tongue twister.
Once again I’m reminded of an observation that poetry/lyrics are processed and even stored in a separate part of our brains than prose. My relative who suffered catastrophic brain damage and barely able to construct two word sentences was fully capable of reciting nursery rhymes, Christmas carols etc. learned in childhood long before her Injury.
Fascinating! Latin poetry is quantitative and doesn’t rhyme. Is this because it’s inflected, or, put another way, do we have rhyme because English isn’t inflected in the same way?
Thank you for explaining why the "word families" I teach - at, bat, cat, that - are called "onset rimes." I have been annoyed all this time by "rime" not spelled right.
i think calling them different things is simply more helpful for categorization, but they serve the same purpose of making language sound more appealing (or any other purpose it can serve within poetry)
A nitpick: the onset isn't "irrelevant for rhyming". Most English speakers would not say that words rhyme with themselves nor that homophones do. Whereas rimes must agree, onsets must not in order for (perfect) rhyme to happen.
For 50+ years I’ve been fascinated by Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with its mishmash of interior rhymes. One in particular “..get sick, get well, hang around the inkwell….” rhymes the same word “well” with itself but in two distinct meanings - cured and reservoir. The entire lyrics of the song, sung at its ripping tempo almost becomes a tongue twister.
Once again I’m reminded of an observation that poetry/lyrics are processed and even stored in a separate part of our brains than prose. My relative who suffered catastrophic brain damage and barely able to construct two word sentences was fully capable of reciting nursery rhymes, Christmas carols etc. learned in childhood long before her Injury.
Fascinating! Latin poetry is quantitative and doesn’t rhyme. Is this because it’s inflected, or, put another way, do we have rhyme because English isn’t inflected in the same way?
I love your posts! They are the things I didn’t know I wanted to know. Every time! 😍
I suspect you will hear this from others, but dog doesn’t rhyme with fog in my accent.
Thank you for explaining why the "word families" I teach - at, bat, cat, that - are called "onset rimes." I have been annoyed all this time by "rime" not spelled right.
Why (or why not) should we not call the phenomenon of agreement in inflected languages, ‘rhyme’?
i think calling them different things is simply more helpful for categorization, but they serve the same purpose of making language sound more appealing (or any other purpose it can serve within poetry)