kalatas

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• calatas, caltas — obsolete, Spanish-based orthography
• kaltas — obsolete

Etymology

Possibly from the following:

• Early borrowing from Spanish cartas, plural of carta (“letter, missive, chart”), from Latin charta. The Spanish etymology was provided by the Vocabulario de la lengua tagala of Noceda & Sanlucar, and by the Commission on the Filipino Language.
• From Classical Malay kertas (“paper”), from Arabic قِرْطَاس (qirṭās), from Aramaic קַרְטֵיסָא / ܩܪܛܝܣܐ (qarṭīsā). However, according to Potet (2013), paper was little known by 15^th century in the Malay archipelago.

Both routes come from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs), possibly derived from Phoenician 𐤇𐤓𐤈𐤉𐤕 (ḥrṭyt). Compare Maguindanao kalëtas / kaltas / karatas (“paper”), Maranao karatas (“paper”), Tausug kātas (“paper”), Brunei Malay keratas, and Malay kertas. Doublet of karta, tsart, and kard.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /kalaˈtas/,
• Rhymes: -as
• Syllabification: ka‧la‧tas

Noun

kalatás (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜎᜆᜐ᜔) (archaic)

1. paper

   Synonym: papel

2. letter (written message)

   Synonyms: sulat, liham

Further reading

• “kalatas” at KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino‎, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2021
• “kalatas”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• English, Leo James (1987) Tagalog-English dictionary, Manila, Philippines: National Book Store, →ISBN, page 277
• Panganiban, José Villa (1973) Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles, Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 226
• Serrano-Laktaw, Pedro (1914) Diccionario tagálog-hispano, Ateneo de Manila, page 432.
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎ (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier, page 78
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎, La Noble Villa de Pila, page 463: “Papel) Calatas (pc) C. anſi le ſolian llamar .|. caltas. pero y ale llaman todos papel.”
• Zorc, David Paul (1981) Core Etymological Dictionary of Filipino: Part 2, page 68
• Potet, Jean-Paul G. (2016) Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates, Lulu Press, →ISBN, page 317
• Potet, Jean-Paul G. (2013) Arabic and Persian Loanwords in Tagalog, Lulu Press, →ISBN, page 204
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972) Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 118