Castilian metric: acute, flat and esdrújula

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A new lesson from a TEACHER starts here to focus the contents on the Castilian metric, specifically, in the use of syllables and the rules to take into account depending on whether these are sharp, flat or esdrújulas. As we have commented on more than one occasion, our language is very rich, so, as you can imagine, it also contains many rules, and in the poetry, which on many occasions contains the most cultured of the Castilian language, there are several norms that we must consider to create verses and rhymes.

So, without further ado, let's discover the use of the acute, flat and esdrújula accentuation in the Castilian metric so that the poems comply with the rules established by the language.

Index

1. The syllable in the Castilian metric
2. Metric analysis in Spanish
3. Castilian metric licenses

The meter in a poem, according to the RAE, is the measure of a verse. Some authors expand this definition by adding that it is a kind of abstract scheme that includes a series of regularities that the manifestation in a verse obeys.

For us to understand each other better, we can consider the verse as a rhythmic manifestation that contains elements of special relevance in the language. That is, the linguistic elements are capable of constituting rhythms, and in this case we consider the syllable, the pause, the timbre and the accent.

As we are interested in analyzing the syllables, let us remember that depending on which of them is stressed within a word, we can classify them as:

• Sharp: also known in metrics as oxytone, occurs when the accent is on the last word - paid - truck - Antón.
• Trowel: in this case, it is known in metrics as paroxitone, and it is the most common in Spanish. Here, the stress is on the penultimate syllable - Marco - poco - imagen.
• Esdrújula: also called proparoxytoneIn this case the accent falls on the penultimate syllable - syllable - esdrújula - show.
• Sobreesdrújula: we cannot forget the special case in which the word is stressed before the penultimate syllable, which we also know as superproparoxin. There are not too many cases, but there are enough to be taken into account - tell him about it - by paying him.

It is important do not confuse accent with accent. All the words are accented, but not all are marked. The tilde is used only in certain special cases. Thanks to this consideration, we can distinguish cases in which the same word, for example, changes its meaning because it has an accent or not: payment - paid.

In this other lesson we will discover which are the main stanzas of the Castilian metric.

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The syllabic classification that we have just shown will determine when we analyze a poem in Spanish metrically if we are faced with oxytone, paroxytone or proparoxytone verses.

It is important to remember that syllabic quantification is the quantitative unit of verse. That is, starting from this measurement, we can analyze a poem with its stanzas and verses by comparing various schemes. So to know the number of syllables a verse has, we will analyze the syllables of a single sound and those of a group of them: ca / ​​ba / llo / gran / de / y / ma / rrón.

We must always locate the stressed syllable, which is the one that is accentuated and, therefore, is pronounced with greater intensity, thus differentiating itself from the rest, which are the unstressed syllables: ma / ri / PO / sa / BLAN / ca / ​​DEL / pan / TA / no.

As we have already commented, depending on the position of the stressed syllable, we classify Spanish words as acute, flat, esdrújulas and sobredrújulas.

Here we give you some examples of metric analysisso you can see how this type of analysis is carried out.

Finally, it is worth knowing what the Castilian metric licenses that are located in poetry in our language, phonetic phenomena that affect the final result:

• Sinalefa: the last syllable is a vowel and the following also begins with a vowel, so they are considered a single syllable: En / va / NO - ES / pe / ro.
• Dialepha or hiatus: In this case, we find the opposite of the synalepha, that is, the vowels of two words that are continuous do not form a single syllable: Flo / tA / El / pen / sa / mien / to.
• Dieresis: here the vowels are divided into two syllables that in principle should go into one to form a diphthong. In / between / the / hI / Er / bas.
• Syneresis: finally, we have the last license, in which we find the opposite case to the previous one, that is, two join vowels even though they do not form a diphthong, so they become a single metric syllable: De / noc / tur / no Phaeton.

Mussafia's Law: we must add a last license, also known as law of the last accent of the verse. In it, if a verse ends with an acute word, one more syllable is counted, while, if it is esdrújula, one less will be counted: Bus / co / sa / BER - Sin / es / PÍ / ri / tu.

If you want to read more articles similar to Castilian metric: acute, flat and esdrújula, we recommend that you enter our category of Literary concepts.