Our findings for task A

Here piles of pins extend their shining rows,	/hɪəpaɪlzəvpɪnzekstendðɛəʃaɪniŋrəʊz
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billets-doux.	pʌfspɑʊdəzpæʧɪzbaɪblzbɪlɪdəʊz
Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms;	nɑʊɔ:flbju:tɪpʊtsɒnɔ:lɪtsɑ:mz
The Fair each moment rises in her Charms, . . .	ðəfɛəi:ʧməʊməntraɪzɪzɪnhɜ:ʧɑ:mz/

(Alexander Pope, 'The Rape of the Lock', Canto I, 137-40)

The most obvious example of /p/ alliteration is that between 'Puffs' /pʌfs/, 'Powders' /pɑʊdəz/ and 'Patches' /pæʧɪz/. These are marked graphologically by the initial capitalisation as well as the repetition of the /p/ phoneme. The alliteration also ties together a string of nouns which go together semantically: they are all cosmetic items (powders and puffs are obvious enough; patches are C18 beauty spots).

But does the alliterative pattern include 'piles' /paɪlz/ and 'pins' /pɪnz/ in the previous line? The words involved are not capitalised and are a bit further away (but not much), so the effect is probably not felt as strongly as that between ''Puffs', 'Powders' and 'Patches'. But although the pins (presumably hair pins) are not examples of make-up, they are part of the armoury for making someone beautiful. So there is a good interpretative reason for wanting to include them in the same alliterative pattern.

The next really obvious one is the /b/ alliteration between 'Bibles' /baɪblz/ and 'Billets-doux' /bɪlɪdəʊz/ (the French term for love letters, here with the Anglicised pronunciation to make the rhyme). This alliteration clearly brings with it an ironic contrast. Although the parallel alliteration and the orthography suggest that we are to see these items as equivalent, they are of very different status. At the time a Bible was a very serious thing to read (and indeed still is today, even if you happen not to be religious). But the love letters of high society ladies were much more trivial. Here, then, we can see the parallelism rule working at the phonetic level (alliteration) to bring out an ironic contrast. Although Bibles and love-letters are very different in status, the Lady Belinda appears to treat them as equivalent (they are both on her dressing table), helping us to smile at her.

But does the alliteration go across the whole line? Do the /p/ and /b/ words alliterate? What do you think?

We would argue that it does. First of all, the /p/ and /b/ items in the second line of the quotation are also parallel grammatically - they are all nouns in a list construction which suggests they are to be seen as equivalent. Moreover, although /p/ and /b/ are different phonemes, they are very similar to one another in articulatory terms. They are both stops which are bilabial (stopped by putting the two lips together). And although the /p/ alliterating items are all to do with cosmetics and the /b/ items are examples of reading matter, they are all items strewn across the Lady Belinda's dressing table. If you see the ironic contrast in the line being between 'Bibles' and ALL the other items we have mentioned, then you are probably perceiving the /p/ alliteration pattern and the /b/ alliteration pattern as also being linked together in a looser /p/b/ alliterative pattern.

Incidentally, as the couplet rhyme scheme forces us to produce an overtly Anglicised pronunciation for the love letters: (/bɪlɪdəʊz/), this joke pronunciation helps to lower the status of the love letters.

Next: Alliteration, assonance and perception