What is Alliteration?

What is alliteration?

Alliteration is a literary device that repeats the first consonant sound of two or more words in close proximity for stylistic effect. The repeating sound must occur either in the first letter of each word, or in the stressed syllables of those words. It is a type of figurative language often found in both poetry and prose.

For example, the phrase from the nursery rhyme "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" is an example of alliteration because the initial consonant sound of each word (“p”) is repeated.

It is important to note that alliteration is the repetition of sounds, not just letters, and alliterative words do not have to be right next to each other. For example “The king closed his cluttered cupboard” is alliterative, even though the word “his” appears between the alliterative words, and “k” and “c” produce the same sound in this example even though they are different letters.

While alliteration mostly refers to the repetition of consonant sounds, vowels can be alliterative, as long as the repetition of the vowel sound is the same. For example, “amazing American” is alliterative, whereas “oozing orange” is not as the “oo” and “o” sounds are different.

Etymology of the word alliteration

The word “alliteration” comes from the Latin word “littera”, meaning “letter of the alphabet”. The earliest known use of the noun alliteration is from the early 1600s.

Why do writers use alliteration?

Alliteration, just like any literary device, is a way of making writing more interesting and engaging for the reader. It is often used in the media and advertising as a way of grabbing a reader’s attention, with many famous businesses using alliterative names for their brands, such as Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme. These business names are made more memorable by the use of alliteration, ensuring increased brand visibility and recognition. Using alliteration is also a popular tool in marketing as it can make phrases sound fun and easy to remember, such as “Maybe it’s Maybelline”. 

Alliteration is a popular tool in poetry and in song lyrics, as it can help enhance sound, lyricism and rhythm. It can be used to emphasise particular phrases or feelings, or even to overwhelm the senses, such as in Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poem, ‘The Raven’:

“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door”

The use of alliteration can create the effect of sound on paper, in a similar way to onomatopoeia, such as in the phrase “swishing and swaying”, or to create imagery, such as “the smooth sound of silk”, which is evocative of something that is soft and flowing.

Types of alliteration

While it is interesting to know what each of these terms means, you won’t need to know them when sitting your exams. 

Examples of alliteration and how to analyse them

Like analysis of other language techniques, it is always important to comment on the effects of the alliteration you find in your texts, not simply to spot them. Comment on the additional meaning a writer is trying to convey when they use alliteration: can you interpret those deeper layers of meaning and their connotations?

Further reading

For study guides on how to analyse alliteration in literary texts, and how best to include alliteration in your own creative writing, check out our comprehensive revision notes below. All our notes are course-specific, so everything you’ll need to ace your exams is in one neat place!

GCSE English Literature revision notes 

GCSE English Language revision notes

IGCSE English Literature revision notes

IGCSE English Language revision notes

A Level English Literature revision notes 

For a comprehensive glossary covering all the best literary terms you could ever need (including assonance, hyperbole, juxtaposition, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, pathetic fallacy, personification, simile and more than a hundred more), check out our list of Top literary devices, complete with student-friendly definitions and examples.

Here at Save My Exams, we develop high-quality, affordable revision resources; consider signing up for a Save my Exams subscription to help you get the most out of your revision. We support over 1.5 million students each month in preparing for their exams and achieving successful results, we’d love to help you too.