How to do Scansion of a poem-in Hindi

Scansion Part – I (Syllables and their Kinds)

Scansion is an act of dividing a verse line into accented and unaccented syllables and grouping it into regular feet. It aims at the examination of the metrical correctness of a line.

किसी भी कविता के पंक्तियों की पहचान कर उनको नाम देना ही Scansion कहलाता है. Scansion करने के लिए निम्न तरीकों का प्रयोग किया जाता है-

  1. Division of a line into correct number of syllables
  2. Marking out of the accented and unaccented syllables in a line
  3. Breaking of a line into different feet or measures
  4. Naming of the metre used

Let’s discuss the 1st Step in detail. The first step is to learn how to divide the given verse lines into correct number of syllables.

Definition of a Syllable- A Syllable is the smallest phonetic part that is pronounced in one impulse of breath. It is to be noted that every syllable must bear a meaning.

किसी भी शब्द की वह सबसे छोटी ध्वनि इकाई जिसे एक झटके में पढ़ा जाये उसे Syllable कहते है. कोई जरुरी नहीं है की सभी Syllables कुछ न कुछ अर्थ लिए ही हो.

Syllables: Kinds

  • Mono-syllabic (The Words with one Syllable) – One, God, Cram, Shake, Like, Dog etc.
  • Di-syllabic (The Words with two Syllables) – A-ble, A-bove, Tak-en, Le-vy, I-rony etc.
  • Tri-syllabic (The words with three Syllables) – Beau-ti-ful, Ex-am-ple, De-ve-lop etc.
  • Tetra-syllabic (The Words with four Syllables) – De-ve-lop-ment, Al-lu-ring-ly etc.
  • Penta-syllabic (The Words with five Syllables) – In-com-pa-ra-ble, De-vo-tion-al-ly etc.
  • Hexa-syllabic (The Words with six Syllables) – Ex-tra-cur-ri-cu-lar, In-ca-pa-bi-li-ty etc.

Find out the number of Syllables in the following words:-

Horse, Table, Payable, Website, Scansion, Terribly, Defiance, Relevant, Corruption, Dial, Crestfallen, Computerized, Enthusiastically, Zealous, Fabulous, Transferable, Label