Verse Forms in Bertsolaritza

Level 6

A bertso is built from pairs of lines. In zortziko txikia each pair has 7 + 6 syllables: Zergatik ari zaigun / nigarrez ezkila? The last word of each pair rhymes.

How It Works

1. The main metres.

  • Zortziko txikia: four pairs (eight short lines) of 7 + 6 syllables, with a pause after the 7th syllable.
  • Zortziko handia: four pairs of 10 + 8 syllables, with pauses after the 5th and the 10th syllable.
  • Hamarreko txikia and hamarreko handia: the same line lengths, but five pairs instead of four.

2. Counting syllables. Count sung syllables, not letters. A diphthong such as ai, ei, oi, au or eu counts once: be-dein-ka-tu-a has five syllables. Two vowels that do not form a diphthong count twice: tu-a. See five vowels and diphthongs.

3. Rhyme. The last word of each pair rhymes with the others: ezkila, makila, bila, hila. Using the same rhyming word twice in one bertso is called poto, and it counts as a fault.

4. Grammar in verse. To put a rhyme word at the end, verse often changes the prose order: Gernikako arbola / da bedeinkatua puts da before the participle, where prose would say bedeinkatua da. See literary word order. Many bertsolariak also use regional forms, such as the Gipuzkoan det and degu or the Northern nigarrez for negarrez.

Tip: When you listen, catch the rhyme at the end of each pair first. It tells you where each part of the sentence ends.

Examples (5)

  1. Zergatik ari zaigun / nigarrez ezkila?

    Why is the bell weeping for us?

    Zortziko txikia: Zer-ga-tik a-ri zai-gun (7) / ni-ga-rrez ez-ki-la (6). nigarrez is the Northern form of negarrez.

  2. Manex gazte lerdena, / eskuan makila

    Slender young Manex, with a stick in his hand

    Ma-nex gaz-te ler-de-na (7) / es-ku-an ma-ki-la (6). makila rhymes with ezkila.

  3. Zilorat eroririk, / gelditu da hila.

    Having fallen into a hole, he lay dead.

    Zi-lo-rat e-ro-ri-rik (7) / gel-di-tu da hi-la (6). eroririk is a participle with -rik; zilorat is the Northern form of zulora.

  4. Manex gaztea, lerden ederra, / eskuan mizpir makila

    Manex, young, slender and handsome, with a medlar stick in his hand

    Zortziko handia: Ma-nex gaz-te-a (5) / ler-den e-de-rra (5) / es-ku-an miz-pir ma-ki-la (8).

  5. Gernikako arbola / da bedeinkatua

    The tree of Gernika is blessed

    A song by Iparragirre in the same 7 + 6 metre. da comes first so that the rhyme word bedeinkatua ends the pair.

Common Mistakes

  • Counting a diphthong as two syllables.

    be-de-in-ka-tu-a (6)
    be-dein-ka-tu-a (5)

    ei is a diphthong and counts as one syllable. So da bedeinkatua has 6 syllables and fits the short line of zortziko txikia.

  • Using the same rhyme word twice (poto).

    Zergatik ari zaigun / nigarrez ezkila? / Manex gazte lerdena, / hor dago ezkila
    Zergatik ari zaigun / nigarrez ezkila? / Manex gazte lerdena, / eskuan makila

    Each pair needs a new rhyme word. Repeating ezkila is poto, a fault in bertsolaritza. makila keeps the same rhyme with a different word.

How It Connects

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Verse Forms in BertsolaritzaLevel 6

Learn This First

Verse forms follow vowels and dialects.