The Bertso
A bertso consists of two main components: the spontaneous verse and the melody to which it is sung. The famous modern-day bertsolari Xabier Amuriza defined it in a bertso as:
| Neurriz eta errimaz | Through metre and rhyme |
| kantatzea itza | to sing the word |
| orra or zer kirol mota | that is what kind of sport |
| den bertsolaritza. | the bertsolaritza is. |
Many different forms of metre exist for bertsos but 4 of the commonly encountered ones are the zortziko txiki "small of eight", zortziko handi "big of eight", hamarreko txiki "small of ten" and hamarreko handi "big of ten". An example of a Zortziko Txiki is the first stanza of the bertso Aitorren Izkuntz Zarra "Aitor's Ancient Language" by Z. Andonegi:
| Basque | English |
|---|---|
| Aitorren izkuntz zarra | Aitor's ancient language |
| nai degu zabaldu | we want to spread |
| munduaren aurrean | in front of the world |
| gizonki azaldu | courageously present |
| baldin gure zainetan | as long as in our veins |
| odolik badegu | we have blood |
| euskaldunak euskeraz | we Basques in Basque |
| itz egin bear degu. | must speak. |
The zortziko txiki is called the "small of eight" as the first lerro or "line" contains 8 oinak or "syllables" (literally called "feet"), followed by 7 syllables in the next line. Such a pair of lines is called a puntu, a "point", 4 puntu (or 8 lines) in total form one stanza in a zortziko txiki. The rhyme is carried in the lines of 7 syllables. The zortziko handi on the other hand contains 10 syllables in the first line, followed by 8 in the second. The hamarreko txiki and hamarreko handi only differ in the number of lines, of which they have 10 rather than 8.
An error in the rhyme is called a poto.
Read more about this topic: Bertsolaritza