lục bát

Vietnamese

Examples
Áo em (“Your Shirt”) by Xuân Diệu Áo em để lại dáng hình, Treo trên mắc áo cho mình thấy thương Đôi vai nho nhỏ bình thường, Khuỷu tay áo gợi hình xương tay gầy. Your shirt left a silhouette, Hung on the coat rack, made me feel sorry The shoulders were so narrow, so modest, The elbows showed the shape of your frail arms

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 六 (“six”) and 八 (“eight”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lʊwk͡p̚˧˨ʔ ʔɓaːt̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lʊwk͡p̚˨˩ʔ ʔɓaːk̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lʊwk͡p̚˨˩˨ ʔɓaːk̚˦˥]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Noun

(classifier bài, thơ) lục bát

1. a traditional Vietnamese poetry with alternating lines of 6 and 8 syllables, whereby the last syllable of a 6-syllable line rhymes with the 6th syllable of the very next 8-syllable line, and the last syllable of an 8-syllable line rhymes with the last syllable of the very next 6-syllable line; the rhyming also has to conform to the matching of trắc or bằng tones

Usage notes

Unlike most kinds of poems, those of this kind are usually printed or displayed centered-aligned for balance.