latah

English

WOTD – 15 June 2011

Alternative forms

• lata

Etymology

From Malay latah.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑːtə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

latah (countable and uncountable, plural latahs)

1. (pathology) A condition found in Malaysia and nearby areas characterised by extreme suggestibility; also, a person suffering from this malady.
   • 1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press:

     Latah is a condition occurring in Southeast Asia. Otherwise sane, Latahs compulsively imitate every motion once their attention is attracted by snapping the fingers or calling sharply.

   • 1989, Anthony Burgess, The Devil's Mode:

     It seemed to Sir Edwin that this patient, a young man who had never set foot outside England, was suffering from an ailment known as latah – common enough in the Malay archipelago but hitherto unknown, so far as the clinical records – admittedly not very reliable – could advise, in the temperate clime of northern Europe.

   • 2003, Wen-Shing Tseng, Clinician's Guide to Cultural Psychiatry, page 116:

     Actually, there is a debate among scholars as to whether the latah condition should be regarded as a culture-related "mental disorder" or merely as an "unusual behavior response" found in some cultures.

Anagrams

• Thala

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Malay latah, from Sanskrit लता (latā, “streak, childish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlat̪ah]
• Hyphenation: la‧tah

Adjective

latah

1. (psychiatry, psychology) latah: a condition found in Malaysia and nearby areas characterised by extreme suggestibility.
2. acting like a crazy person.
3. behaves in a stereotypically other nation manner as imitation in attitude, deed, or habit.

Derived terms

• kelatahan
• melatahkan
• pelatah

• latah mulut

Etymology 2

Unknown. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlat̪ah]
• Hyphenation: la‧tah

Noun

latah (uncountable)

1. (archaic) trash under the tree.

Further reading

• “latah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /latah/
• Rhymes: -atah, -tah, -ah

Noun

latah (Jawi spelling لاته, informal 1st possessive latahku, 2nd possessive latahmu, 3rd possessive latahnya)

1. (pathology) latah (A condition found in Malaysia and nearby areas characterised by extreme suggestibility)

Descendants

• → English: latah
• Indonesian: latah

Further reading

• “latah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.