Versification

Versification

When language is artistically put in verse, it can be structured according to the following systems of versification, reproduced after Tarlinskaja (1976: 2).

1. syllabo-tonic: the basis of commensurability is repeated combinations of stressed and unstressed syllables
2. tonic: the basis of commensurability is the number of strongly stressed words in the line
3. syllabic: the basis of commensurability is the number of syllables per line
4. free verse: the basis of commensurability is the line itself

“There are also transitional systems which fall between these four. The feature forming the basis of commensurability between the lines are not mutually exclusive; however, the most common feature among the lines is considered the basis of the system of versification. If all the lines containing this basic feature are on the whole identical they are termed isometric, isosyllabic, or isotonic. [...] The basic concept of syllabo-tonic verse is meter.”

For versification in Old English, see Old English Alliterative Verse.

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