Assonantsis

Assonantsis is a term in poetry theory and linguistics used to describe the deliberate organization of vowel sounds across neighboring words to create sonic cohesion. It considers patterns of vowel quality and quantity that recur within lines or phrases and treats them as an analytic dimension alongside rhyme and meter. The concept aims to capture how vowel repetition contributes to rhythm, intelligibility, and aesthetic effect, beyond traditional assonance.

Origin and scope: The word combines assonance with the Latin -sis suffix (as in analysis) and was proposed in scholarly articles on experimental poetics in the 2010s. It is not yet widely standardized and remains primarily a label used in specific analytical contexts and creative writing discussions.

Analysis and metrics: Researchers describe assonantsis as the density or synchrony of vowel repetition across selected units—words, phrases, or clauses. A typical approach maps vowel inventories and computes an assonantsis score to compare passages or poems. The method emphasizes perceptual salience and functional roles in meter.

Illustrative example: Bright eyes light the night. The pale rain remains on the plain.

Applications and reception: Used in literary analysis, creativity coaching, and computational poetry tools. Some scholars view assonantsis as overlapping with established concepts such as assonance and phonological cohesion, while others see it as a practical heuristic for exploring sonic texture. See also: assonance, alliteration, prosody.