Alliteration

Alliteration is "the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words," often used as a literary device; "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" is the stock example. The pedigree is deep: "Alliteration is used in the alliterative verse of Old English poems like Beowulf," and the device now also works in lyrics, headlines, advertisements and business names. The article's framing is functional: poets "can call attention to certain words in a line of poetry by using alliteration," and alliteration can be seen as "a special case of consonance where the repeated consonant sound opens the stressed syllable."

For the novelist alliteration is rhythm with a highlighter: it binds and slows the eye over the words it links. Used sparingly it marks a writer's voice; used liberally it turns prose into a tongue twister. Its vowel cousin is assonance.