What is a tongue twister?
A tongue twister is a
phrase or a sentence that has intentionally been made hard to speak at a fast
pace. This is achieved through the use of alliteration and/or a sequence of
similar sounds. The use of mnemonic devices (sound devices/patterns) distinguishes
tongue twisters from other sub-genres of oral literature.
It is worth noting
that tongue twisters belong to a sub-genre of oral literature called short
forms. Other short forms are puns, riddles, proverbs and idioms.
Examples of tongue twisters:
- She sells seashells at the seashore.
- She sells cheap sheep soup
- Any noise annoys an oyster but a noisy noise annoys an oyster more.
- Kindly kittens knitting mittens keep kazooing in the king’s kitchen.
Use of sound Patterns in Tongue Twisters
1. Use of alliteration.
Alliteration is the repetition of an initial consonant sound in words at close proximity. Alliteration, which is a sound device, is one of the most
remarkable features of tongue twisters.
Try reading the tongue twister
below fast as you can:
She saw a fish on the seashore and I am sure the fish she saw on the seashore was a saw-fish.
The words she, shore and sure are alliterative since they begin with the same consonant sound /ᶴ/.
2. Use of Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere else from the
beginning in the words at close proximity.
Consonance differs from alliteration in that the consonant sounds
do not appear at the beginning but occur at the middle or at the end of the
words.
Read the tongue twister below and take note of the sounds made
by the highlighted letters
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thank the skunk stunk.
The highlighted sounds are referred to as consonance.
3. Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds in close words.
She sells seashells at the seashore
She sells cheap sheep soup
How much wood could a wood chopper chop, if a wood chopper could chop wood?
The highlighted sounds are referred to as assonance.
Use of Repetition in tongue twisters
Repetition is simply the recurrence of the same words. Though repetition
is not a sound device, it is an important feature of language use.
Most tongue twisters repeat words or phrases to achieve a similar effect
to that of the use of sound devices.
Example of repetition in a tongue twister
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thank the skunk stunk.
She sells seashells at the seashore.
Features of Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters have the following features:
- Tongue twisters are short and brief. They are usually the length of a single sentence
- Tongue twisters are alliterative. They use alliteration
Functions of Tongue Twisters
- Tongue twisters are used to entertain. This is because the audience laughs when one confuses the pronunciation of some words.
- Tongue
twisters are used to teach
pronunciation.
- Tongue twisters enhance creativity.