Dale Crowe
Suffix -ati and -sih A lot of Indonesian women have last names with this suffix. For example Wahyungsih, Fatmawati, etc. What exactly do they mean?
May 3, 2014 2:45 AM
Answers · 6
2
Pragmatically speaking, that suffix use to feminize the name. "Wati" or as you said "Ati". For example "Karyawan" which is refer for males employer or general employer without any specific gender explanation, if you want to feminize it just change the "awan" to "wati" which is "Karyawati". As it also apply for "Mega-wati" which is the name of the former Indonesian president. Also "sih" mostly use to feminize the name. Like Sriningsih, Sukaysih, and all of that. Like the name "Jacques" and "Jacqueline" both are identical, the "line" just use to feminize the name. Or "Paul" and "Pauline". Or in Arabic, "Jameel" with "Jameelah" both are identical in meaning, but one is for male while the other is for female. So do Wahyu and Wahyuningsih, one is for male while other for female.
May 3, 2014
That is the name of Indonesia People...It doesn't make a sense with suffix -ati and -sih. In Indonesia normally we don't put a family name after the first name..
May 3, 2014
I am not going to answer. I was just wondering who determines the best answer here or how it was selected, because quality-wise, the best answer was the one provided by bymz. Beware Indonesian language learners (or any languages for that matter)!
December 20, 2015
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October 31, 2014
Wati and ningsih (not -ati and -sih) are typical traditional name of Indonesian woman in Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Bali). These names are derived from Sanskrit. Ningsih means "with love" / full of love / affection. Wati means woman. They could stand alone or combined with other name. Example: 1). Kusumaningsih= flower with full of love (kusuma=flower) 2). Rahayuningsih= beautiful and full of love (rahayu = beautiful / pretty) 3). Fatmawati= wanita yang bercahaya (fatma= light / glow)
May 14, 2014
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