# Does 'ata' mean something in your language?



## turkishspeaker

Ata means father/anchestor in Turkish. Does it have any meaning in your language?


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## trance0

"Ata" means "father" in Slovene too.


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## dinji

I think _atta_ meant 'father' in ancient Gothic? This may be behind Turkish and/or Slovene, but I'm not sure.


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## origumi

Atta is "father" also in Latin, Hittite.


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## OldAvatar

In Romanian, the word for *father* is _tata. _Though, I don't think it is related with Turkish *ata*.


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## Outsider

In Portuguese, _ata_ can be:

- a noun meaning "minute" (of a meeting);
- a form of the present tense of the verb _atar_, "to tie up", "to bind";
- a form of the imperative of the same verb.

I don't think any of these is related to the Turkish word.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

turkishspeaker said:


> Thanks.


 
The Gothic form is behind the Slovene form.



OldAvatar said:


> In Romanian, the word for *father* is _tata. _Though, I don't think it is related with Turkish *ata*.


 
Romanian word for tata could be from Serbo-Croate word for father which is tata.


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## Frank06

Hi,



dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Romanian word for tata could be from Serbo-Croate word for father which is tata.


It could come from any language in which childspeak 'tata' appears.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Kanes

In Bulgarian the baby word is tati too, it's just what babies say, same with the am/ma sound for mother.... It's not borrowing, half the languages on the world have similar words for those things.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

Frank06 said:


> It could come from any language in which childspeak 'tata' appears.



I am merely saying it could come from Serbo-Croatian because Romanian is exposed to this language but then again it could be an original childspeak word in Romanian and not the borrowing.


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## Tamar

In Hebrew 'ata' means 'you' - male, singular.


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## hanne

In Greenlandic aataa means grandfather and ataata means father. Not quite the same word, but still interesting considering the geographical distance, I think.

And in Swedish äta means eat. (also not exactly the same, but close)


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## ahshav

Though I doubt there is a real connection, in Judeo-Aramaic (at least Talmudic), ata means "he comes/arrives" or "he came/arrived."


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## astlanda

Estonian:

"ata" is an onomatopoetic expression, which describes punishing (kids) by beating them.

A word closer to Turkish, Gothic, Greenlandic and Slavic version is "ätt" which may refer to father or (usually just) an old man. A counterpart of "tata" is Estonian "taat", which covers almost the same semantic field as "ätt".


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## Saluton

The combination of Russian letters *ата* (i.e. transliterated *ata*) doesn't mean anything in Russian.


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## robbie_SWE

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> I am merely saying it could come from Serbo-Croatian because Romanian is exposed to this language but then again it could be an original childspeak word in Romanian and not the borrowing.


 
Or it could just come from Latin _tata _(a colloquial form for saying "father"). Consider it being the other way around; that Romanian influenced Serbo-Croatian. 

 robbie


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## Nanon

These two work for Spanish as well:


Outsider said:


> - a form of the present tense of the verb _atar_, "to tie up", "to bind";
> - a form of the imperative of the same verb.
> 
> I don't think any of these is related to the Turkish word.


Ditto.


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## kusurija

In Czech I don't remember any meaning for "ata"

In Lithuanian
there are:
1. abbreviation fot *a*mžiną *T*au *a*tilsį, sometimes used as a word. Meaning: a rest to You for ages (who gone to his account/leaved for a better world)
2. one of non-regular forms for "atia" (other: "ate") - meaning: so long, bye-bye...

In Japanese:
仇[ata, more often [ada]] foe, enemy


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## Cosol

In Euskaraz/Basque _aita_ is _father_.


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## Evros

I think "ata" must be Ural-Altaic origined, derivatives can include this word as father..


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## Frank06

Hi,

My common sense says that "Turkish 'ata'" only means something in... Turkish.
Pedantics apart, Dutch doesn't have a word that sounds like 'ata'.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Giorgio Lontano

robbie_SWE said:


> Or it could just come from Latin _tata _(a colloquial form for saying "father").


Hmm... that use has survived here, in Spanish. 



Nanon said:


> These two work for Spanish as well:
> 
> Ditto.


 It's also a sufix: ata

Regards.


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## Juri

I don't agree with SALUTON(post 15) about "ata" doesn't mean anything in Russian; do not forget the compound word *ataman* !


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## Montaigne

And in Russian "атец" (atiets) means father and derives from Altaic "ata".


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## cattletruck

Yes, in Tamil it means father too.


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## brtkrbzhnv

No, it means nothing in Swedish, but _átta_ is thought to have meant 'father' in PIE, and therefore there are words for 'father' that sound more or less similar to _ata_ in many Indo–European languages, e.g. Russian отец ([ʌ'tʲeʦ]).

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Proto-Indo-European_*átta


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## phosphore

Montaigne said:


> And in Russian "атец" (atiets) means father and derives from Altaic "ata".


 
It could have been the other way round as well, especially considering that _atta_ means father also in Latin and Gottic and similar words exist in many other Indo-European languages.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

^That's where you get Attila the Hun? Attila is diminutive of atta in Gothic which means father.


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## berndf

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Attila is a Gothic diminutive of Turkic atta in Gothic which means father.


I think, the *theory* (one of many) relating the name _Attila_ to Gothic goes more like this.


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## todosmentira

In Albanian *atë* or *ati* means father.


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## HBZ55

In Standard Arabic, it means he came, as in "to come".


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## apmoy70

In Greek, ata is baby talk and means "a walk". When the mother wants to take her toddler for a walk, she usually says "πάμε άτα" (p*a*me *a*ta, let's go for a walk).


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## ixo_

"Aita" means "father" in Basque (maybe nothing to do with "ata", but there you go...)


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## sakvaka

_Taata_ is an old-fashioned word in Finnish to describe an old male person, usually the grandfather. But it is not used very much in this century...


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## rowther

Hi,
*Ata* is used by Tamil speaking *Rowther Muslims*-descendents of the *Turkish* Sultanate of Madurai (1335-1378 C.E) for *father.*


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## Selyd

In Ukrainian the baby word is *тато* (tato) it's just what babies say - The basic word is "*батько*", same with the *мама/мa* /mama-ma/ sound for mother - The basic word is "*мати, матір*". The military leader is “*отаман*” /otaman/.
And to the priest address “*отче*” from “*отець*” /otets’/.


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## Zsanna

According to some sources, the Hungarian _atya_ (a very dignifed word for father) comes from _ata_.
We have both _tata_ and _tati_ as an affectionate title for a grandfather.
_Tata_ is also used in addressing any unknown old man in a half joking or a bit derogatory way (depending on the tone of voice).


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## Saluton

Juri said:


> I don't agree with SALUTON(post 15) about "ata" doesn't mean anything in Russian; do not forget the compound word *ataman* !


Still, the word *ата* means nothing.


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## Ateesh6800

*Ata* is not really a lexical word in Hungarian, so it doesn't mean anythying.

However, *Ata* is used as a relatively rare and recent nickname for the first name *Attila* (sometimes spelled as *Atilla*). This is of course not too important linguistically unless you are called Attila officially and Ata by family members, as is the case with me. 

There are conflicting etymologies for "Attila"/"Atilla" circulating in Hungary; it may come from an old Turkish root "itil"/"etel" meaning "river" or indeed from the old Turkish word meaning "father" with possibly a diminutive ending.

If you switch the *"t"* for a palatalised version (spelled *"ty"* and sounding roughly like the word-initial consonant complex in "tutor" in British English) "Atya" is indeed "grandfather" or "forefather" or a term of address for a senior priest including the pope himself ("szentatya" or "holy father").


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## Alxmrphi

*Ataata* is a Greenlandic word for _*father*_.


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## Gavril

Tamar said:


> In Hebrew 'ata' means 'you' - male, singular.



Akkadian: _atta _"you (male, singular)"

Welsh: _ata _"towards me" (a modern form of older _ataf_)


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## mataripis

In Dumagat language (Mangnah) of Luzon Island,Philippines, "Ata" means Human, In Tagalog it is "Tao", Tawo and in Panay Island it is "Ati" where the term "Ati atihan" came from.


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## pujushe7

'Ata' means 'them' in Albanian.


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## mataripis

Ata in Dumaget means "People". Other ethnic words related to this are Ati/Ayta/Agta and Tawo(Ta-oh).


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## DreamerX

The only thing I can think of in North American English is “A*tt*a boy!” or “A*tt*a girl!” (always with two t’s). This is something we shout to congratulate a person who has accomplished a feat (or what we believe is a feat). It is typically associated with physical activities, but it can also be said to somebody who has received good grades or got accepted into college, among other things. I’m not too aware of its origins.


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## franknagy

The old form of father is in Hungarian is "atya". It is still used in the Lords Prayer: "Mi Atyánk, ki vagy a mennyekben ..."
The present word for father is "apa".


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## roxcyn

In English it is an abbreviation for "that a..", example: ata boy; ata girl.  etc.


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## DreamerX

^Thanks for clarifying the origins, roxcyn ! By the way, I think it's usually spelled with two t's, but there are might be different versions.


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## mundiya

In Hindi, "aaTaa" means wheat flour, while "taat" (from Sanskrit "taata") is one of the words for father.


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## franknagy

^The Hungarian word "tata" means
a) a derogative form of address against old man which is not your relative.
b) The smallest great-grandsons used to call their great-grandfather "Tata" in our family.


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## Amayun

astlanda said:


> Estonian:
> 
> "ata" is an onomatopoetic expression, which describes punishing (kids) by beating them.
> 
> A word closer to Turkish, Gothic, Greenlandic and Slavic version is "ätt" which may refer to father or (usually just) an old man. A counterpart of "tata" is Estonian "taat", which covers almost the same semantic field as "ätt".




In Hazaragy/Azaragy/Khazaragy, old name Khazars, a very old form of a Turkic dialect

"Ateh/Ate/Ata" is also an onomatophoetic expression, which describes punishing (kids) by beating them.  ie. "Ateh/Ate/Ata Ku" means "Beat up" "Ateh/Ate/Ata(y)" could also be just an expression by also using an arm in an up/down movement to emphasize on the meaning of the word to a little kid.

Atta/Ata/Attah means father in the above mentioned dialect of an old Turkic language.  Please note that the pronunciations are different between "Ateh/Ate/Ata(y)" and Atta/Ata/Attah.

Atta
Atta is a German boy name. The meaning of the name is `Father` From Gothic (Germanic, Teutonic)


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## ancalimon

In Turkish when someone gets angry at some other person, he would say "hadi oradan" which means something like "go away from there!". You can often see the angry man move his arm up and down angrily as if he is throwing his scarf over his shoulder.
I guess it may come from Proto-Turkic "at" meaning "movement, go".  It probably is the source of suffix -da meaning "at". Probably just a coincidence between English and Turkic as far as we know.

*ata* means father, ancestor.

*dede* means grand father but it also meant father in the past.  My theory is that "de" was word created by babies and it today means "far away". I guess babies called their father as "dede" because their fathers were usually nowhere to be seen.


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## Amayun

I believe the origin/ancestors of the people of Turkey are from the central Asian Turkic tribes, hence the similarities between the culture, food, tradition, and language.  This resemblance exist even in most of Eastern Europe, but as you move closer to central Europe, North & South, it slowly fades away.  It amazingly exist even in Southern Asian countries like India, and Middle East too.


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## franknagy

The Hungarian people has formed from Finno-Ugric commonage and Turk aristocracy outside from the present Hungary. The saga telling the story of the warriors chasing the golden deer meeting the bathing girls at the Azovean see is an artistic but absolutely true explanation of our people. It is natural that the Hungarian language has preserved the Turk words like "ata".


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## kaverison

Thanks for a great site. Long time watcher, first time posting here. I am a noobie in linguistics. Native Tamil speaker. Let me try.

In old Tamil, *attan *meant father (father's sister is still called atthai, probably remnant of it). Now father is addressed as appaa. Though formally, it is thanthai.

Thaathaa refers to grandfather, old man (to show respect or dearness). (Thaathaa probably come thanthai-in thanthai - father's father).

Just the "ada!" is often heard in Tamil, to mean something like "wow!".

athu - it

Sounds:
a - short a; sounds like a in adjust
aa or A - is long A and sounds like o in "on"

*Note*: I have always heard about Finnish - Tamil similarities. I see one here. Tamil is an agglutamate language as well.


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## 810senior

Ata doesn't mean anything in Japanese.
If it was _ada_, it means vengeance or wastefulness. e.g. _ doryoku ga zenbu ada to natta_(all the efforts got wasted on me), ada wo utsu(to take vengeance)


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## kaverison

^Interesting - here are some words in Tamil:

atu/adu - kill, fight (old Tamil)
ada would be to kill, to fight
atakku/adakku - to control, subjugate

(In Tamil, there is only one consonant t - it takes t or d sound depeding on context)


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## AutumnOwl

Cosol said:


> In Euskaraz/Basque _aita_ is _father_.





Evros said:


> I think "ata" must be Ural-Altaic origined, derivatives can include this word as father..


In Finnish the word _äiti_ means mother, if related to the Ural-Altaic _ata_, it must have changed gender. Father in Finnish is _isä_.

The closest word in Swedish to _ata_ would be _äta_, meaning to eat.


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## bigic

Serbian:
_Tata_ is the word for father used in most situations. Less formal would be _ćale_, and the most formal form is _otac_.
_Ata_ is a nickname for the name _Atanasija_, according to some dictionaries. The word may have another meaning in some dialects, but I never heard anybody saying it.


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## Messquito

ata in Taiwanese Hokkien means stupid, idiotic.


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## Ghabi

Moderator's Note: I think this thread, which probably started as an etymological brainstorm, has received its fair share of replies, and it's time to have it closed. As one of our colleagues remarks above,


Frank06 said:


> My common sense says that "Turkish 'ata'" only means something in... Turkish.


Thanks for the participation and interesting discussion.


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