Sound Symbolism: Often, several words with similar meaning may coincidentally have a similar phoneme- combination in them. Because this particular sound occurs in this pattern of words, the sound itself may become strongly associated with some quality in the words' connotation. This accident can become a building block in poetry, allowing literary artists to choose words that convey some additional indirect meaning or create a line in which the sound symbolism echoes or mirrors or contrasts with the content in that line. For example, Denning and Leben point out how the phoneme combination /sl/ indicates a certain slippery nature in English words (43): slip slick slither slide. The connotations associated with this sound mean a poet can use several /sl/ sounds in a specific line to convey that slipperiness indirectly. Alternatively, when coining a new neologism, the creator of a new lubricant might use the phoneme combination /sl/ in the new product name to convey that quality. Poets describing a sword-fight might want to convey swishing and clattering sounds indirectly through alliteration, describing how the 'swaggering swain swung his sword in answer' or the 'clever cut came close to carving him as he jerked back blocking the blow.' Because the alliteration not only borders on onomatopoeia but actually connects with the content of the lines--i.e., the sword-fight--it enters the realm of sound symbolism.

 

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