Light meson masses and mixings

I present a simple discussion of the masses and mixings of the light pseudoscalar and vector mesons based on a ``$q\bar{q}$'' description of the effective field theory. The analysis includes $\eta'$(958) from the beginning, and is largely concerned with structural questions. While the final results are mostly known, the method gives insight into the general form of the meson mass matrices and the different character of the mass splittings and mixings in the pseudoscalar and vector multiplets, and provides a coherent overall picture