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Note: This section of the workbook focuses on three central elements of versification: el cómputo silábico, el ritmo, and la rima. On page 126 of the text you will see verses with numbers above them. The first goal of this section is to teach you how to number the syllables of any verse. Do all of the steps in this section. As you develop syllabification and versification skills you can combine the steps, but for now it is important to perfect each one. The more you work directly with the poems, the easier the steps will become.
Task 1. Review Word Classification. In order to classify verses and later determine the rhyme scheme of the poem, you must first be able to identify the kind of word in which a verse ends, which is determined by the tonic vowel (la vocal tónica). The stressed syllable (la sílaba tónica) contains the tonic vowel and distinguishes between the word categories in Spanish. Following is an overview of how Spanish words of more than one syllable are categorized based on their tonic vowel/syllable. Make sure that you know the information in this chart.
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Task 2. Review Accentuation. To make sure you understand the difference between the word categories in Task 1, read the following classification rules. Then look carefully at each word and apply the rule you just read. If the word does not require a written accent, leave it alone; if it does require one, write the accent above the appropriate syllable.
Note: The underlined syllable is the tonic syllable of the word.
Palabra aguda: This type of word ends only in a consonant other than n or s, and the last syllable is stressed. If it does end in n, s, or any vowel, it requires a written accent on the last syllable.
Palabra llana: The stress in this type of word falls on the second-to-last syllable and requires a written accent only if the word ends in a consonant other than n or s.
Palabra esdrújula o sobresdrújula: These word types always require a written accent because the stress falls on the third- or fourth-to-last syllable.
