Antidote 11 User Guide

User Guide / The Dictionaries / Dictionary of Rhymes / Display and Search Options

Display and Search Options of the Dictionary of Rhymes

The lower section of the right-hand panel provides a number of options for adjusting what type of results, and how many of them, are shown.

Variants

This option is visible when the headword has several pronunciations, such as data [DAYT-uh] or [DAT-uh]. Use it to select the phonetic variant with which the results should rhyme.

Imperfect rhymes

By default, the English dictionary of rhymes displays only perfect rhymes. This option expands the results to words that do not meet the criteria of perfect rhymes described in the Presentation, but can still be used as rhymes since they have identical final sounds.

  • Identity: Identities differ from perfect rhymes by the fact that the onset (the consonant or consonant cluster preceding the stressed vowel) is identical in both words. For example, revive [ri-VIVE] and survive [suhr-VIVE] are identities since the onset [v] is identical in both words.

  • Unstressed rhymes: Unstressed rhymes differ from perfect rhymes by a difference in primary stress between the identical final sounds in both words. For example, revive [ri-VIVE] and archive [ARK-ive] are unstressed rhymes since the primary stress falls on the second syllable of revive and the first syllable of archive.

Near-rhymes

The Near-rhymes option displays various types of phonetic similarities that are not strictly rhymes, but can still prove useful for poets or other wordsmiths. Here are the descriptions of the near-rhymes that can multiply your results.

  • Near homophones: These are words that only differ from the headword by a single phoneme, regardless of its position in the word. For example, feast [FEEST] and fast [FAHST], headline [HED-line] and headlight [HED-light].

  • Similar consonants: These words have endings that differ only by similar consonant sounds, such as [p] and [b], or [s] and [z]. For example, race [RAYSS] and praise [PRAYZ], erode [i-ROHD] and rewrote [ree-ROHT].

  • Similar vowels: These words have endings that differ only by similar vowel sounds, such as [o] and [aw]. For example, don [DON] and yawn [YAWN], trolley [TROL-ee] and crawly [KRAWL-ee].

  • Assonance: Assonance occurs when two words have matching vowel sounds in the primary stress onwards, regardless of consonants. For example, go [GOH] and road [ROHD], theology [thee-OL-uh-jee] and philosophy [fi-LOSS-uh-fee].

  • Consonance: Consonance occurs when two words have matching consonant sounds after the vowel with primary stress, regardless of vowels. For example, sack [SAK] and brick [BRIK], conduct [kuhn-DUKT] and restrict [ri-STRIKT]

When the Imperfect rhymes or Near-rhymes options are enabled, new sections are added to the list of results, and the type of imperfect rhyme or near rhyme is specified next to each one (identity, assonance, etc.). Both options are disabled by default, except in the case of words without any perfect rhymes; for these words, the Imperfect rhymes option is enabled by default. Regardless of the number of results shown by default, it can always be useful to widen your search to words that are more distantly related in terms of their phonetics.

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Categories

This option is for filtering the results according to the desired syntactic category (noun, adjective, verb, etc.).

Syllables

This option is for filtering the results according to the number of syllables.

Frequency

This option is for setting a minimum frequency for the words that appear in the results. This can be adjusted using the slider, allowing rarer words to be hidden if they’re of less interest or they weigh down the results.

Family

Two words belonging to the same family, such as the adjectives discreet and indiscreet, are generally considered to be weak rhymes. This option allows words from the same family as the headword to be included or excluded from the results. (For more details on families, see the Dictionary of Families.

With labels

This option is for including or excluding words with usage labels (such as informal) or domain labels (such as chemistry).

Transcription

This option is for changing the type of phonetic transcription used in the results (respelling or IPA).

Pronunciation

Some words are pronounced differently in different regions. For example tomato is pronounced [tuh-MAHT-oh] in London and [tuh-MAYT-oh] in Toronto. This option is for setting the regional pronunciation with which the results should correspond.

Text filter

If you want the results to only show a particular sequence of characters, enter them in the text field located at the bottom of the list of results and select Filter from the drop-down menu indicated by a magnifying glass. Click the “x” to the right of this text field to recover the complete list.

Semantic fields filter

To limit the results to one or more semantic fields, select Semantic Field from the drop-down menu indicated by a magnifying glass at the bottom of the results. Then, start typing a word from a particular semantic field (for example, animal): a search-as-you-type menu will then propose the corresponding entry. Once the word is selected, only results from within the semantic field in question will be shown. You can add up to five words simultaneously in this way (other examples: colour or passion) to multiply the semantic fields in which to look for results.