Часто ми і не замислюємося про те, наскільки сильні лінгвістичні прийоми для посилення сприйняття певної інформації. Звернемося до основи основ стилістики і подивимося, як вона працює на практиці у бізнесі.
Consonants that make you stop and consonants that make you glide
Stop consonants are those that cause the vocal tract to block when pronouncing the consonant.
Glide consonants do not obstruct the vocal tract and are quite frictionless when spoken.
The effect of a stop consonant is to slow the flow of a word or sentence. Often these stop words help highlight what comes next or build to a grand conclusion—a bit like a countdown, when used in succession.
- Stop consonants include: t d k g b p
Glide consonants, on the other hand, can lead to a really smooth flow from word to word and in the greater context of a sentence or paragraph.
- Glide consonants may include: l r j w
Examples
The stress of syllables
Let’s get into the rhythm of the word itself. Rhythm comes from syllables, the individual units of words that make up the whole.
There are some really neat distinctions to be made with the order and emphasis of syllables. At the simplest level, these come down to iambs and trochees.
- Iambs – an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (dee DUM)
- Trochees – a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one (DUM dee)
Create a new word
In need of a great word? Why not make one up?
There are seven ways to create a word from scratch.
- Reuse an existing word (Apple, spam)
- Create a new compound word by sticking two words together (YouTube, Facebook)
- Create a blend by combining one part of a word with another word or word part (Technorati, pastarazzi)
- Attach a prefix or a suffix to a word (uncola, Bufferoo)
- Make something up out of arbitrary syllables (Tivo, Cee-Lo)
- Make an analogy or play on words (podcast, Sketchpaper)
- Create an acronym (SCUBA, guba)
The world’s favorite literary device: Alliteration
Here’s one you may recognize. Alliteration is words beginning with the same letters or letter sounds.
- A dozen delicious doughnuts
- Throwback Thursday
- Facebook on a flip phone? Fantastic!
