ALLITER: Alliteration
| ALLITER: Alliteration | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Wordplay & Phonetic Styling |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | CA-6 |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q68 |
| OpenAlex | |
| ID | W4415357193 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q68 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Alliteration (al-mujānisa al-istihlākiyya) is an Arabic rhetorical device where a number of words have successively identical initial letters, creating a patterned repetition at the beginning of lexical items.[1]
Mechanism
- The device operates by repeating the same initial letter at the beginning of multiple lexical items in close succession within a phrase or sentence.[1]
Recognition
Alliteration may be present when:
- Multiple adjacent or closely connected words begin with the same Arabic letter.[1]
The following diagnostic test aids identification:
- Alliteration may be present if three or more closely placed words share the same opening consonant, and the pattern appears deliberate in context.
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
- The repetition of an identical initial letter across successive lexical items produces a noticeable phonetic cohesion among those words.
Applying the Recognition Framework
The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:
Examples
- Source Example
وَمَكَرُوا۟ مَكْرًا وَمَكَرْنَا مَكْرًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
Quran 27:50
They planned a plan, and We planned a plan.- Explanation
- Alliteration is represented by the initial letter mīm of the successive lexical items.[1]
- Source Example
وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا
Quran 33:71
Whoever obeys God and His messenger will achieve a splendid triumph.- Explanation
- Alliteration is achieved through the initial letter fā' of the lexical items faqad fāza fawzan.[1]
- Source Example
وَقَدْ جَلَسَ مَعَهَا فِي خَلْوَةٍ خَلَقَهَا خَالُهُ لَهُمَا
He sat with her in an isolated place arranged by his uncle for both of them.
- Explanation
- Alliteration is represented by the same initial letter khāʾ of khalwa (an isolated place), khalaqahā (arranged/created it), and khāluhu (his uncle).[1]
- Constructed Example
سَافَرَ سَامِرٌ سَرِيعًا إِلَى سَمَرْقَنْد
Sāmir travelled quickly to Samarkand.
- Explanation
- Alliteration is represented by the initial letter sīn across the successive lexical items sāfara sāmirun sarīʿan samarqand (travelled, Sāmir, quickly, Samarkand).
Different From
- PARONOM: Paronomasia - whereas Paronomasia requires exactly two lexical components that are formally similar but semantically distinct, Alliteration requires no semantic relationship between words — it operates purely on the shared initial letter across any number of words.
Notes
- Although classical Arabic rhetoric does not consistently isolate Alliteration as an independent named device, Bettini (2011) notes that ancient Arabic poetry contains broader phonetic repetitions, such as the hemistich of al-Aʿshā, which were only partially absorbed into later tajnīs classifications.[2]
- Source Example
شاوٍ مِشَلٌّ شَلولٌ شُلشُلٌ شَوِلُ
A boy who roasts meat - light, active, agile
- Explanation
- A sequence of lexical items sharing repeated initial š-sounds, cited by Bettini (2011) as an example of broader phonetic repetition in early Arabic poetry.[2]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 259–260, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399
- ↑ a b Lidia Bettini, ‘Jinās’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online, ed. Lutz Edzard and Rudolf Erik de Jong (Leiden: Brill, 2011).
Page history
- 2026-02-10 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CA-2: Alliteration to ALLITER: Alliteration.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
- 2024-04-22 - Page created: Alliteration.
