Pif paf poof
-
Andy Arleo
Abstract
Known as ablaut reduplication, apophony, consonance, consonantal rhyme or vowel gradation, sound sequences such as Pif paf poof appear to be widespread in children’s rhymes around the world. As part of an ongoing investigation of universals in children’s folklore, this paper analyzes ablaut reduplicatives (AR) extracted from a corpus of 1884 counting-out rhymes in 51 languages (38 IE, 13 non-IE). After defining and justifying the choice of counting-out rhymes for this study (§2), I address methodological issues in Section 3. Section 4 presents the findings concerning the frequency of AR sequences in 30 languages and analyzes vowel contrasts within these sequences. The dominant pattern displays strong or maximal contrast between a high front vowel 1 and a front low, back low or back mid vowel 2, thus confirming previous research on lexical AR, notably in English. However, non-canonical contrasts, such as puh pah (Finnish) or puff paff (German) are also found in the data. Furthermore, it is noted that French often exploits oppositions between nasal vowels (e.g., pin pan). Following this analysis of the data, Section 4.3 offers possible explanations for the dominant tendency. Section 5 briefly examines the interplay between various forms of reduplication (AR, copy, rhyme) and the rhythm of counting-out rhymes, focusing on examples from the corpus with four-beat lines. Such self-generating beat-synchronized reduplicative patterns are characterized as core structures readily found in isochronic oral poetry from which more elaborate poetic forms may spring. The conclusion points to further avenues of investigation and suggests analogies between AR as a verbal art product and similar patterns in other expressive semiotic systems, in particular music and the visual arts.
Abstract
Known as ablaut reduplication, apophony, consonance, consonantal rhyme or vowel gradation, sound sequences such as Pif paf poof appear to be widespread in children’s rhymes around the world. As part of an ongoing investigation of universals in children’s folklore, this paper analyzes ablaut reduplicatives (AR) extracted from a corpus of 1884 counting-out rhymes in 51 languages (38 IE, 13 non-IE). After defining and justifying the choice of counting-out rhymes for this study (§2), I address methodological issues in Section 3. Section 4 presents the findings concerning the frequency of AR sequences in 30 languages and analyzes vowel contrasts within these sequences. The dominant pattern displays strong or maximal contrast between a high front vowel 1 and a front low, back low or back mid vowel 2, thus confirming previous research on lexical AR, notably in English. However, non-canonical contrasts, such as puh pah (Finnish) or puff paff (German) are also found in the data. Furthermore, it is noted that French often exploits oppositions between nasal vowels (e.g., pin pan). Following this analysis of the data, Section 4.3 offers possible explanations for the dominant tendency. Section 5 briefly examines the interplay between various forms of reduplication (AR, copy, rhyme) and the rhythm of counting-out rhymes, focusing on examples from the corpus with four-beat lines. Such self-generating beat-synchronized reduplicative patterns are characterized as core structures readily found in isochronic oral poetry from which more elaborate poetic forms may spring. The conclusion points to further avenues of investigation and suggests analogies between AR as a verbal art product and similar patterns in other expressive semiotic systems, in particular music and the visual arts.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgments xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Isochronous metrics
- Textsetting as constraint conflict 43
- Comparing musical textsetting in French and in English songs 63
- Bavarian Zwiefache 79
- Natural Versification in French and German counting-out rhymes 101
- Minimal chronometric forms 123
- Symmetry and children’s poetry in sign languages 143
-
Part II. Prosodic metrics
- Pairs and triplets 167
- Generative linguistics and Arabic metrics 193
- On the meter of Middle English alliterative verse 209
- The Russian Auden and the Russianness of Auden 229
- Towards a universal definition of the caesura 247
- Metrical alignment 267
- Rephrasing line-end restrictions 287
-
Part III. Para-metrical phenomena
- Pif paf poof 307
- The phonology of elision and metrical figures in Italian versification 325
-
Part IV. Macrostructural metrics
- Convention and parody in the rhyming of Tristan Corbière 337
- The metrics of Sephardic song 355
- A rule of metrical uniformity in old Hungarian poetry 371
- Metrical structure of the European sonnet 385
- Persons index 403
- Languages index 411
- Subjects index 415
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgments xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Isochronous metrics
- Textsetting as constraint conflict 43
- Comparing musical textsetting in French and in English songs 63
- Bavarian Zwiefache 79
- Natural Versification in French and German counting-out rhymes 101
- Minimal chronometric forms 123
- Symmetry and children’s poetry in sign languages 143
-
Part II. Prosodic metrics
- Pairs and triplets 167
- Generative linguistics and Arabic metrics 193
- On the meter of Middle English alliterative verse 209
- The Russian Auden and the Russianness of Auden 229
- Towards a universal definition of the caesura 247
- Metrical alignment 267
- Rephrasing line-end restrictions 287
-
Part III. Para-metrical phenomena
- Pif paf poof 307
- The phonology of elision and metrical figures in Italian versification 325
-
Part IV. Macrostructural metrics
- Convention and parody in the rhyming of Tristan Corbière 337
- The metrics of Sephardic song 355
- A rule of metrical uniformity in old Hungarian poetry 371
- Metrical structure of the European sonnet 385
- Persons index 403
- Languages index 411
- Subjects index 415
