The six link types in Polyphonia

Echo: words that rhyme or sound the same. The two words rhyme or sound the same. Rhymes are decided by pronunciation (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary), from the last stressed vowel to the end of the word. Homophones count too.

• cat → hat rhyme
• rain → train rhyme
• stone → bone rhyme
• bee → sea rhyme
• night → knight sounds the same
• bear → bare sounds the same
• flower → flour sounds the same
• milk → silk rhyme

• Spelling doesn’t matter, sound does: “flower” and “flour” are an Echo.
• A plural or third-person “s” doesn’t stop a rhyme: “cat” → “hats” counts.
• Near rhymes that rhyme in many accents (“lost” → “cost”) count when the judge also hears a rhyme.
• A shared ending alone is not a rhyme: “trapping” → “facing” does not count.
• Rhyming opposites such as “helpful” → “unhelpful” count as Rifts, not Echoes.

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Thread: words that mean the same, or nearly. The two words mean the same, or nearly the same, in any common sense. Different spellings of one word (colour/color) and forms of one word (run/ran) also count.

• big → large same meaning
• lorry → truck same meaning
• quick → fast same meaning
• begin → start same meaning
• wind → breeze nearly the same
• shut → close same meaning
• colour → color the same word, spelled differently
• run → ran forms of one word

• Any sense of a word counts: “brush” → “stroke” works because a brush can be a light stroke.
• Loose everyday synonyms count: “wind” → “breeze”, “chap” → “fellow”.

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Rift: opposites. The two words are opposites, or natural counterparts.

• hot → cold opposites
• win → lose opposites
• day → night counterparts
• early → late opposites
• full → empty opposites
• sour → sweet opposite tastes
• tall → short opposites
• helpful → unhelpful opposites that rhyme

• Opposites are checked before rhymes, so a rhyming pair of opposites is a Rift.

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Fusion: together they make a word or phrase. Together, in either order, the two words make a compound word, a common phrase or an idiom.

• butter → fly “butterfly”
• fire → truck “fire truck”
• rain → bow “rainbow”
• foot → ball “football”
• sun → flower “sunflower”
• ice → cream “ice cream”
• cover → song “cover song”
• tone → deaf “tone deaf”

• Order doesn’t matter: “cream” → “ice” works as well as “ice” → “cream”.
• Closed compounds (“butterfly”), open compounds (“fire truck”) and set phrases (“tone deaf”) all count.

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Root: one is a kind or part of the other. One word is a kind, an example or a part of the other.

• rose → flower a kind of flower
• oak → tree a kind of tree
• penguin → bird a kind of bird
• apple → fruit a kind of fruit
• wheel → car part of a car
• finger → hand part of a hand
• petal → flower part of a flower
• page → book part of a book

• It works in both directions: “rose” → “flower” and “flower” → “rose” are both Roots.

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Spark: words that go together. The two words have a strong everyday association: they go together. Spark is used only when no more specific link type fits.

• key → lock go together
• pen → paper go together
• sock → shoe go together
• rain → umbrella go together
• doctor → hospital go together
• snow → winter go together
• kettle → steam go together
• guitar → music go together

• If a pair also makes a phrase (“dog bone”), it counts as a Fusion instead.

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