They are verses of five or six syllables, recited to entertain, calm or amuse children, to choose who should start a game or who should take part in play.
They are always rhymes, educational or satirical sayings and don’t have any music.
In Portugal, counting rhymes are called cantilenas or lenga-lengas. They were introduced to Brazil by the Portuguese, acquiring new clothes and colours more appropriate to the country’s national character.
Counting rhymes differ from lullabies (acalantos), which are songs to make children sleep; from games (jogos), where there is always dispute and competition; from circle songs (canções de roda); from Riddles advinhações) or guessing games or superstitions.
Brincos are the easiest counting rhymes, said and recited by parents or nannies to entertain or calm children:
Marra-marra (Head-butt)
Carneirinho (Little sheep)
Marra-marra carneirinho (Head-butt little sheep)
Palminha, palminha (Palm, palm)
Palminha de Guiné (Clap your palms)
Pra quando papai vier (for when daddy comes)
Mamãe dá lá papinha (Mummy gives you porridge)
Vovó da lá cipó (Grandma gives you the vine)
Na bundinha do neném (on baby’s bottom)
Dedo mindinho (Pinky finger)
Seu vizinho (Its neighbour – ring finger)
Maior de todos (Bigger than all – middle finger)
Fura-bolos (Pick at cakes – index finger)
Cata-piolhos (Cooty-catcher – thumb)
According to Luis da Câmara Cascudo, when counting rhymes are used to teach or make children remember something (numbers or ideas), they are called mnemonics:
Um, dois, feijão com arroz (One, two, beans and rice)
Três, quatro, feijão no prato (Three, four, beans on the plate)
Cinco, seis, feijão pra nós três (Five, six, beans for us three)
Sete oito, feijão com biscoito (Seven, eight, beans and biscuit)
Nove, dez, feijão com pastéis (Nine, ten, beans and pastries)
or the version
Um, dois, feijão com arroz (One, two, beans and rice)
Três, quatro, feijão no prato (Three, four, beans on the plate)
Cinco, seis, cala a boca Português (Five, six, shut up Portuguese [person])
Sete, oito vá comer biscoito (Seven, eight, go eat a biscuit)
Nove, dez vá lavar os pés (Nine, ten, go wash your feet)
Na cachoeira nº10 (At waterfall number 10)
Pra ganhar 500 réis (To get 500 crowns)
Another well-known mnemonic counting rhyme to teach counting:
Una, duna, trina, catena (One, two, three, four)
Bico de ema (Emu beak)
Solá, soladá
Gurupi, gurupá
Conte bem que são dez! (Count well so there are ten!)
In oral literature, counting rhymes are one of the first things understood by children which remain in their adult memory.
There are counting rhymes which are initiated by the child themselves, used in their play. Some of the more known are:
Rei, (King)
Capitão, (Captain)
Soldado, (Soldier,)
Ladrão. (Thief.)
(while counting the shirt buttons to see whom they will marry)
or the version
Casa (Marry)
Não casa, (Don’t marry,)
Casa, (Marry,)
Não casa.... (Don’t marry…)
Bem me quer, (S/He loves me)
Mal me quer, (S/He loves me not) (while picking the leaves of a flower and thinking of someone)
Bem me quer, (S/He loves me,)
Mal me quer.... (S/He loves me not…)
Also well-known are the counting rhymes to outwit fools: asking someone to repeat a certain expression after the last work spoken, for example “de sete facadas” (from seven stabs).
Eu ia por um caminho... (I was going through a path…)
. Caminho de sete facadas... (path fromseven stabs)
. Encontrei uma vaca... (I met a cow)
. Vaca de sete facadas... (Cow from seven stabs)
. Encontrei uma casa... (I found a house)
. Casa de sete facadas... (House from seven stabs)
. Encontrei um morro... (I found a hill)
. Morro de sete facadas! (Hill from seven stabs – also translatable as ‘I die from seven stab[wound]s)
Another interesting type counting rhyme in Brazilian folklore are tongue twisters, which consist of a text, which either rhymes or doesn’t, that is difficult to say:
Se o Papa papasse papa/ Se o Papa papasse pão/ O Papa tudo papava/ Seria o Papa papã. (If the Pope ate porridge / If the Pope ate bread / The Pope who eats everything / Would be the bogeyman Pope.) Aranha arranha a jarra/ a jarra arranha a aranha. (The spider scratches the jar, the jar scratches the spider.)
Childish book-owners also have another form of counting rhyme used widely by students to discourage book thieves. They write on the inside of the cover:
Quem pegar neste livro. (Whoever takes this book.)
Não causa admiração; (Doesn’t get any admiration;)
Mas quem com ele ficar, (But whoever keeps it)
Não passa de um ladrão. (Is nothing but a thief)
The oral tradition of counting rhymes is handed down from generation to generation with regional variations. Unfortunately, this rich cultural manifestation only survives in some rural regions of Brazil and in some works of folklorist who have catalogued them.
Recife, 9 November 2004.
(Updated on 4 September 2009).
Translated by Peter Leamy, February 2011.
Ilustrations by Rosinha.
sources consulted
CÂMARA CASCUDO, Luís da. Dicionário do folclore brasileiro. 3.ed. rev. e aum. Brasília, DF: INL, 1972. 2v.
MELO, Veríssimo de. Folclore infantil. Rio de Janeiro: Cátedra; Brasília, DF: INL, 19818.
how to quote this text
Source: GASPAR, Lúcia. Couting Rhyme. Pesquisa Escolar On Line, Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, Recife. Available at: >. Accessed: day month year. Exemple: 6 Aug. 2009..