Rhyme over Reason Phonological Motivation in English

We are fascinated by what words sound like. This fascination also drives us to search for meaning in sound - thereby contradicting the principle of the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign. Phonesthemes, onomatopoeia or rhyming compounds all share the property of carrying meaning by virtue of what they sound like, simply because language users establish an association between form and meaning. By drawing on a wide array of examples, ranging from conventionalized words and expressions to brand names and slogans, this book offers a comprehensive account of the role that sound symbolism and rhyme/alliteration plays in English, and by doing so, advocates a more relaxed view of the category 'morpheme' that is able to incorporate less regular word-formation processes.

1. Introduction; 2. Phonological motivation in language evolution and development; 3. Phonetic symbolism; 4. Onomatopoeia; 5. Rhyme and alliteration in blends and compounds; 6. Words, words, words: rhyme and repetition in multi-word expressions; 7. Conclusions: the piggy in the middle.

Réka Benczes is Associate Professor at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences and Communication Theory, Corvinus University of Budapest, and is also an affiliate of the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne. She is the author of Creative Compounding in English (2006), and Kognitív nyelvészet (Cognitive Linguistics; with Zoltán Kövecses, 2010), and has edited Defining Metonymy in Cognitive Linguistics (with Antonio Barcelona and Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, 2011) and Wrestling with Words and Meanings: Essays in Honour of Keith Allan (with Kate Burridge, 2014).