Phonetic palindrome
Encyclopedia
A phonetic palindrome is a portion of sound
or phrase
of speech which is identical or roughly identical when reversed.
Some phonetic palindrome
s must be mechanically reversed, involving the use of sound recording equipment or reverse tape effects
. Another, more abstract type are words which are identical to the original when separated into their phonetic components (according to a system such as the International Phonetic Alphabet
) and reversed.
In English, certain written palindromes also happen to be phonetic palindromes, particularly monosyllabic ones such as mom
, dad
, and pip
. However, this does not guarantee that a reversed recording of any of these words will sound identical to non-reversed speech, because certain pronunciation
s can cause a shift in the articulation
of the vowel
, differentiating the beginning from the end in its pitch.
A bátya gatyába ("The brother in underpants") is a phonetic palindrome. The phrase is also a true palindrome because 'ty' is originally one letter, although there are two characters. Instead of special or accented characters as in other languages, such as ç, ň, Hungarian uses digraphs
. The Spanish
phrase "echele leche" (throw/pour/give it milk) is a phonetic palindrome also because 'ch' is originally one letter, too, as it occurs in the previous Hungarian example.
A rare known palindrome in which a recorded phrase of speech sounds the same when it is played backwards was discovered by the composer John Oswald
in 1974 while he was working on audio tape versions of the cut-up technique
using recorded readings by William S. Burroughs
. Oswald discovered that in repeated instances of Burroughs speaking the phrase "I got", that the recordings sound nearly identical whether played backward or forward.
In "Words at Play: Quips, Quirks & Oddities", a list of phonetic palindromes the author discovered include "crew work"/"work crew", "dry yard", "easy", "Funny enough", "Let Bob tell", "new moon", "selfless", "Sorry, Ross", "Talk, Scott", "to boot", "top spot" (also a regular palindrome), "Y'all lie", "You're caught. Talk, Roy", and "You're damn mad, Roy".
The Beatles
song "Hello, Goodbye" has a phonetic palindrome. The words "say yes" sound the same when played in reverse.
Karsten Johansson's instrumental Wei-Touke contains a lengthy phonetic palindrome before the solo. In both directions, the following poem can be heard: "When I wonder why / What's never been's never been so / We would lie when we say 'Yes, you know we all love you' / What's never been's never been so / Hell, we're nowhere now." Likewise, the line "What's never been's never been so" is also a phonetic palindrome.
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
or phrase
Phrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
of speech which is identical or roughly identical when reversed.
Some phonetic palindrome
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
s must be mechanically reversed, involving the use of sound recording equipment or reverse tape effects
Reverse tape effects
Reverse tape effects are special effects created by recording sound onto magnetic tape and then physically reversing the tape so that when the tape is played back, the sounds recorded on it are literally heard in reverse...
. Another, more abstract type are words which are identical to the original when separated into their phonetic components (according to a system such as the International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
) and reversed.
In English, certain written palindromes also happen to be phonetic palindromes, particularly monosyllabic ones such as mom
MOM
-Mother:* Mom , is a term used predominantly in North American English speaking countries in reference to a mother, the female parent* Soccer mom, demographic group of women with school-age children, a term used in North America-Other:...
, dad
DAD
DAD is an abbreviation that may refer to:* D-A-D, a Danish rock band formerly known as "Disneyland After Dark"* Diode array detector, a type of detector in HPLC* Da Nang International Airport IATA airport code...
, and pip
Pip
-Biology and medicine:* Phosphatidylinositol phosphate* Prolactin-induced protein* Proximal interphalangeal joint* Patient intelligence panel-Business and finance:* Percentage in point , a currency exchange rate fluctuation...
. However, this does not guarantee that a reversed recording of any of these words will sound identical to non-reversed speech, because certain pronunciation
Pronunciation
Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
s can cause a shift in the articulation
Manner of articulation
In linguistics, manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound. Often the concept is only used for the production of consonants, even though the movement of the articulars will also greatly alter the resonant properties of the...
of the vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
, differentiating the beginning from the end in its pitch.
Examples
The HungarianHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
A bátya gatyába ("The brother in underpants") is a phonetic palindrome. The phrase is also a true palindrome because 'ty' is originally one letter, although there are two characters. Instead of special or accented characters as in other languages, such as ç, ň, Hungarian uses digraphs
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
. The Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
phrase "echele leche" (throw/pour/give it milk) is a phonetic palindrome also because 'ch' is originally one letter, too, as it occurs in the previous Hungarian example.
A rare known palindrome in which a recorded phrase of speech sounds the same when it is played backwards was discovered by the composer John Oswald
John Oswald
John Oswald may refer to:* John Oswald , Scottish philosopher, writer, and revolutionary* John Oswald , British general...
in 1974 while he was working on audio tape versions of the cut-up technique
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....
using recorded readings by William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
. Oswald discovered that in repeated instances of Burroughs speaking the phrase "I got", that the recordings sound nearly identical whether played backward or forward.
In "Words at Play: Quips, Quirks & Oddities", a list of phonetic palindromes the author discovered include "crew work"/"work crew", "dry yard", "easy", "Funny enough", "Let Bob tell", "new moon", "selfless", "Sorry, Ross", "Talk, Scott", "to boot", "top spot" (also a regular palindrome), "Y'all lie", "You're caught. Talk, Roy", and "You're damn mad, Roy".
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Hello, Goodbye" has a phonetic palindrome. The words "say yes" sound the same when played in reverse.
Karsten Johansson's instrumental Wei-Touke contains a lengthy phonetic palindrome before the solo. In both directions, the following poem can be heard: "When I wonder why / What's never been's never been so / We would lie when we say 'Yes, you know we all love you' / What's never been's never been so / Hell, we're nowhere now." Likewise, the line "What's never been's never been so" is also a phonetic palindrome.