balasa

Borrowed from (c. 16th-18th century) Early Modern Spanish barajar (“to shuffle”) (/baɾaˈʃaɾ/ -> /baˈlasa/), with loss of final ⟨r⟩, shift of stress to penultimate, change of intervocalic ⟨r⟩ to ⟨l⟩, and Spanish ⟨j⟩, then pronounced /ʃ/, became Tagalog /s/. Possibly also from Spanish baraja (“deck of cards”). Doublet of baraha, a later borrowing from Spanish baraja.

• Hyphenation: ba‧la‧sa
• IPA^(key): /baˈlasa/, [bɐˈla.sɐ]

balasa (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜐ)

1. shuffle (act of shuffling cards)
2. reshuffle; reorganization
3. shift of gait of a running horse