Read the poetry below by Vinicius de Moraes:
The duck
here comes the duck
Paw here, paw there
here comes the duck
To see what's there.
the goofy duck
painted the mug
spanked the chicken
hit the mallard
jumped off the perch
at the horse's foot
took a kick
raised a rooster
ate a piece
from genipap
got choked
with pain in the conversation
fell into the well
broke the bowl
So many did the boy
Which went to the pan.
As you can see, the repetition of the phoneme/pa/ and the consonants "P” and "t” for the text to gain musicality. This stylistic feature is a figure sound known as alliteration, which consists of the repetition of consonant phonemes with the intention of creating a sensory effect. Besides this one, there are other sound figures in our language. Let's look at some of them:
a) Onomatopoeia
It is about the creation of a special word to represent a certain sound – animal voices, noises that express human emotions and behaviors, nature noises, etc.
Examples:
- Meow!: “Voice” of a cat.
- Atchim!: Sound of a sneeze.
- Cough cough!: Coughing sound.
- Whoa! Oh!: “Voice” of a dog.
- Cocorico: “Voice” of a rooster.
- Tum! Tum!: Heartbeats.
- Smack!: Sound of a kiss.
b) Alliteration
Repetition of consonant phonemes to create a sensory effect.
Example:
Rain, Drizzle, Showers (Cocoricó)
Chhello but how teahello
Chgrape, teauvisk, teahowling
why is that teaove so much?
the land likes the teagrape
And I like the teagrape too
she there and me here
coconut, kiquiriquiki
Chhello but how teahello
Chgrape, teauvisk, teahowling
why is that teaove so much?
(…)
Note the construction of the rain sound effect with the repetition of the consonant phoneme represented by the digraph “ch”.
c) Assonance
Çit consists of repeating vowel sounds in accented syllables.
Example:
Behind the door
Chico Buarque
when you looked right into my eyes
And your look was goodbye
I swear I don't believeHey
I strange youHey
lean overHey
about your body and doubtHey
and drag meHey and scratch youHey
and grab meHey in your hair
on your footHeyto (in your fur)
your pajamas
on your feet
at the foot of the bed
No affection, no blanket
on the mat behind the door
complainHey shortly
(…)
d) Paronomasia
Çit insists on the intentional use of paronyms to emphasize the difference in meanings.
Examples:
“É giving what if receive.” (Popular saying)
"In the land of blind who has eye is king.” (Popular saying)
"O cheap leaves expensive.” (Popular saying)
"Who loves the ugly, beautiful it seems to you” (Popular saying)
By Mariana Rigonatto
Graduated in Letters
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/portugues/o-que-sao-figuras-sonoras.htm
