"Nama kamu siapa?"
Translation:What is your name?
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1520
You can ask that too, but in Indonesian, placing a question word at the end of a sentence is more prevalent than in English. And as demoksaputra has explained, it's also informal and casual.
I agree, and think this is an error: the first thing I was ever taught in Indonesian class was "Siapa namamu?", "What is your name?". It seems more natural in both English and Indonesian to place the question word at the beginning of a sentence.
This is not an error. You can say "Nama kamu siapa?" or "Namamu siapa?" It's informal and even you might hear it more often in daily conversation.
Which one is informal of your examples is informal? Would using 'anda' make it formal?
Placing the question word at the end of the sentence is less formal and more natural (used more often in daily conversation). Placing it at the beginning, as in English, would sound more formal, and more "written".
They explain on this page that you have to use "siapa" meaning "who" or "to whom" "belonging to who", "who's", etc... Rather than "apa" meaning strictly "what" for an object, without owner.
So I guess that "Nama apa" would mean "What is the name" as it's nobody's name, but for instance the name of something or a name written somewhere.
The problem is with English (not only English) that expresses the possession with what + possessive. What is your... When the Indonesian language is more direct and express es it with What's the name that belongs to you? With "siapa" = belongs to (here it's "kamu", you).
- 3133
Is "nama" a loan from a Germanic language (e.g. Dutch, English)? It would be quite a coincidence if it were the native word.
- 1520
No, it isn't. But it's a loanword from Sanskrit, itself an Indo-European language. I guess it completely replaced a native one.
I heard somewhere that in Bahasa Indonesia if you're asking a person what their name is you use 'who' (siapa) instead of 'what' (I think it's 'what' if you're asking the name of a pet). Is this correct?
I think we always use 'siapa' when asking for someone's name, even for the name of a pet too.
It's very particular to English language to use "it" as an impersonal for some animals. Pets are often an exception, as they are considered so close from the human beings than they are allowed to be called with "he" or "she" instead of the impersonal thing-like "it".
For instance, in my language, French, we use "she" (elle) even for a wild lioness or any other animals, it would be translated as "it" in English.
So, as it's very particular to English, (and some other languages, but as a particular cases among languages) no wonder that Indonesian use "siapa" for human beings and animals. It seems weird only if your native language is English.
- 1520
Yep. Indonesian uses "siapa" to ask about names, be it people's or an animal's (if they have any). It's useful, too. I gave my pets names and when my friends ask their names they always use "siapa".
With the "Anda" capitalized, exactly like the English "I" is also always written with uppercase.
Is it correct Nama kamu siapa Namamu siapa
Nama aku Siapa Namaku siapa
Are all sentences correct Thanks
Well for the last two, you're asking "what is MY name?", But it's correct if that's what you want to ask
Nama kamu siapa = correct.
Namamu siapa = correct.
Nama aku siapa = (What is my name?) correct. Using the informal "aku".
Namaku siapa = correct.
If you use siapa at the beginning of the sentence, it's also correct, but sound a lot more formal, and somewhat unnatural in everyday life, at least it's the way it has been explained to me.
Siapa nama kamu and Nama kamu siapa are both correct. The less formal is the most natural and common, and it's the one with the question-word at the end of the sentence: Nama kamu siapa?
Indonesian structure is fun, siapa nama kamu, nama kamu siapa are same.
