The Literary World

That part of grammar which deals with law governing the structure of verse is called Prosody.

In simple way, it is the study of sound, pattern, metre and rhyme in a poetry or prose.

It encompasses the study of all the elements of language that contribute towards acoustic or rhythmic effects, chiefly in poetry but also in prose. In short, it refers to the study of metre, intonation and rhythm of a poetic work.

‘Prosody’ term derived from ancient Greek word which means a song along with music or a particular tone or accent given to an individual syllable.

Ezra Pound called Prosody “the articulation of the total sound of the poem”. However, we know that alliteration (the rhythmic repetition of consonants) and assonance (repetition od vowel sounds) occur as much in prose as in poetry.

Besides assonance and alliteration, rhythmic effects are produced in poetry as well as in prose by the repetition of syntactical and grammatical patterns. However, compared with even the simplest verse, the “prosodic” structure of prose would appear haphazard (disorganized) and unconsidered.

Why Prosody is important in linguistic?

Prosody is important because it provides context and gives meaning to ordinary words also it keeps listeners engage. Prosody is expressive in speech sound,

For Example: The sentence “yeah, the movie was good” here expressing the person’s mood that he/she liked the movie. It could also be opposite depending the intonation of that person,

For Example: The sentence “the movie was horrible” here defining that he/she doesn’t like the movie at all.

Prosody is also used to provide semantic information in linguistic.

The Prosody Attributes

• The pitch of the voice (varying between low and high)
• Length of sounds (varying between short and long)
• Loudness, or prominence (varying between soft and loud)
• Timbre or voice quality (quality of sound)

The Features of Prosody

• Intonation
• Stress followed by unstressed
• Rhythm

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