What makes two words rhyme?
It has been stated that there are only three words in the English language that don’t rhyme – ‘purple’, ‘orange’ and ‘silver’. (Odd that they are all colours!)
However I have a list of 540 common English words that have no rhyme. (Click here to read them!) So what is the real truth about rhymes.
One problem with rhyming is that different dialects in the same language can change which words rhyme, and which do not. The real problem however is that what makes two words rhyme has never been properly defined, or not that I could locate. (The following is my attempt to rectify that…)
Obviously words that rhyme have a similar, but not same, sound. We can all agree for example, that ‘beg’ rhymes with ‘leg’.
So, is it just the last two letters that form a rhyme? Well no, otherwise ‘over’ would rhyme with ‘reporter’. Is it the last three letters? Again no, otherwise ‘rabble’ would rhyme with ‘hobble’.
But we are getting closer. Is the last vowel of the word crucial? Only sometimes. ‘Rabble’ rhymes with ‘dabble’ which indicates that it certainly can work. However, ‘lamppost’ does not rhyme with ‘ghost’. The reason that it doesn’t rhyme is that in the word ‘lamppost’, the ‘a’ contained in ‘lamp’ is the dominant vowel, not the ‘o’ in ‘post’. If the ‘o’ in ‘post’ were the dominant vowel then ‘lamppost’ would rhyme with ‘ghost’.
What seems to matter most in a rhyme is the fact that it is the same sound, not just the same letter. However it must be the same sound from and including the last stressed vowel. This last stressed vowel is the significant rhyming vowel that determines whether or not two words rhyme. Thus, ‘appendage’ does not rhyme with ‘bandage’ because the first ‘e’ in ‘appendage’ is the significant rhyming vowel, and the significant rhyming vowel in ‘bandage’ is the first ‘a’. But ‘suction’ rhymes with ‘ruction’, because the significant rhyming vowels are ‘u’ in both cases and ‘uction’ has the same sound.
None of this should be taken to mean that non-rhyming words cannot be used at the end of a stanza. They can, but you have to be creative.
The greatest dish that man makes
Are light and fluffy pancakes.
The other factor is that one word cannot be claimed to rhyme with another word that in its rhyming aspect is the same word. In other words, ‘determined’ is not an acceptable rhyme for ‘predetermined.
Words that ‘almost rhyme’, such as those that have the same consonants but different vowels – ‘hatch’ and ‘witch’ for example – have no place in poetry. Words either rhyme in accordance with the rules above, or they do not.
However they do find a welcome home among songwriters. (Bob Dylan in his heyday was a master of ‘close to rhyming’ words.) Many songwriters use ‘close to rhyming words’ very successfully. It could fairly be stated that song-writing demands this. Restricting song-writing to only words that rhyme becomes too predictable – musical nursery rhymes as a friend put it.
Ditties, and other forms of poetry, are more demanding.
Are there any exceptions? Yes, there are exceptions to all of life’s rules. An allophonic variation occasionally allows for two different sounds to rhyme, that is because the difference is so infinitesimal that it is almost entirely inaudible.
‘Roger’ and ‘Dodger’ are a good example. The last stressed vowel in both words is the ‘o’. The ‘d’ before the ‘g’ in Dodger should, according to the rule, make them non-rhyming words. However, that ‘d’ is so inaudible that it cannot be heard unless one’s ears are really focused.
N.B.The word from the last stressed vowel also has to sound the same; being spelt the same isn’t sufficient. i.e. ‘smith’ and ‘with’ do not rhyme. ‘smith’ involves a whistled sound to the ‘th’. ‘with’ does not.
One last point, I am writing about ‘proper’ English here, not American English. The American dialect can make mattress rhyme with banana! (That is a little joke, but you get the point.)
Philip Barton