Meaning of balitaw

n. courtship song

a. 1. an improvised courtship song consisting of stanzas sung alternately by a boy and the girl he is asking the hand of (in practice by their spokesmen). The stanza consists of four rhymed lines, in any rhyme scheme, with the last two repeated. Each line ideally consists of twelve syllables, though this number is often not strictly adhered to. In modern times the balítaw is not used in courtship, but for social occasions where people show their skill at improvisation; 2. see bítaw; v. sing a balítaw.