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Mnemonic Devices: Rhyme and Alliteration in the THIRUKKURAL, a random example: Canto 4, K35 by T. Wignesan

alukkaaru avaavekuli innaacchol naangkum
ilukkaa iyanrathu aram (refined, shorn of connective particles)
The way of vileness, self-congratulatory aid, ire and foul-mouthing - these four attitudes will cause the charity-giver to slip from the natural path of virtue into ignominy. (Tr. T. Wignesan) 

I - Rhyme (ethukai: there are SIX kinds) in the Venba metre of classical Tamil poetry:
(a) Initial Rhyme (idaiyaasethukai): where the second letter/syllable of the first words in successive lines have to rhyme, e.g.
alukkaaru/ilukkaa
Here the syllable "lu" (with a macron underneath the "l" to distinguish it from two other "l"s in the Tamil alphabet) occurs in both the identical slots.
(b) End-Rhyme (iyappu): naankum/aram

II - Besides, two other forms of rhyme can also be found: 
a) thalaiyaasethukai: the entire first feet in the two lines are identical, even if and because "a" and "i" are phonetic equivalents (of the same genre):
b) moonraamelutthonrethukai: the third letters/syllables of the first words in both the lines are in consonance - "ka" and "ka".     

II- Alliteration (monai: here, too, there are SIX kinds):   
For this feature to be valid, it is enough that the first letters of two or more words be either the same or one of its class, i.e., their phonetic equivalents:
Here, 1) the first letters of the first and second words are "a" in the first line;
2) the first letters of the first and second words are "i" in the second line.
The above two examples of alliteration are known as "inaimonai", i.e., where two successive words are in alliteration.

Commentary: It's quite obvious the poet was writing at a time when widespread dissemination of his work was not available to him (and to others of his ilk), and so poetry having been the principal form of expression for the Tamils throughout the ages, they developed the art of making learning by rote as simple as possible. If you knew that a kural consisted of seven feet in two lines, and that the initial rhymes fell on the second letter/syllable of the first word in each line, and that alliteration was an adornment Tamil poets could not do without, not to mention the special character of the seventh foot (cf. previous posts on the Thirukkural), these features in themselves would be sufficient to aid constant and total recall.

© T. Wignesan - Paris, 2017
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