ـه

Ottoman Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /e/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *-ka (“dative case”).

Suffix

ـه • (-a, -e) (changes with vowel harmony)

1. Used to form the dative case

   ‎استانبول (İstanbul) + ‎ـه → ‎استانبوله (İstanbul’a, “to Istanbul”)

   ‎آنقره (Ankara) + ‎ـه → ‎آنقره‌یه (Ankara’ya, “to Ankara”)

   ‎ازمیر (İzmir) + ‎ـه → ‎ازمیره (İzmir’e, “to Izmir”)

   ‎باباسی (babası) + ‎ـه → ‎باباسنه (babasına, “to his father”)

   صویی ایچدكدن صݣره ماسه‌یه كری قویدم

   suyu içdikden soŋra masaya geri koydum

   I put the water back to the table after drinking it

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *-ü (“gerundive suffix”).

Suffix

ـه • (-a, -e) (changes with vowel harmony)

2. Derives gerunds and adverbial participles. Adverbs derived this way are generally used in rhyming reduplications.

   Synonyms: ــ‌ه‌رك, ــ‌ه‌رق, ـوب

   ‎كول (gül-, “to smile, to laugh”) + ‎ـه → ‎كوله كوله (güle güle, “(lit.) while smiling or laughing; happily”)

   ‎ایت (it-, “to put, to shove”) + ‎ـه + ‎قاق (kak-, “to shove”) + ‎ـه → ‎ایته قاقه (ite kaka, “(literally) by pushing and shoving; with difficulty, forcibly”)

   ‎بات (bat-, “to sink”) + ‎ـه + ‎چیق (çık-, “to get out, to come out, to rise”) + ‎ـه → ‎باته چیقه (bata çıka, “(literally) by sinking and rising; with difficulty, with hardships”)

   ‎كوز (göz, “eye”) + ‎كور (gör, “to see”) + ‎ـه + ‎كور + ‎ـه → ‎كوز كوره كوره (göz göre göre, “(lit.) while the eye sees; in plain sight”)

Descendants

• Turkish: -a, -e, -ya, ye

Etymology 3

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *-gey (“optative-predictive future case”).

Suffix

ـه • (-a, -e) (changes with vowel harmony)

1. Used to form the optative mood of verbs

   ‎اولمق (olmak, “to happen”) + ‎ـه → ‎اوله (ola, “may it happen”)

Descendants

• Turkish: -a, -e

Etymology 4

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *-t

Proto-Semitic *-at-

Arabic ـَة (-a)bor.

Classical Persian ـَه (-a)bor.

Ottoman Turkish ـه

Borrowed from Classical Persian ـَه (-a), borrowed from Arabic ـَة (-a), from Proto-Semitic *-at-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *-t.

Suffix

ـه • (-e)

1. Arabic feminine suffix

   ‎والد (vâlid, “father”) + ‎ـه → ‎والده (vâlide, “mother”)

   ‎شاعر (şâʿir, “poet”) + ‎ـه → ‎شاعره (şâʿire, “poetess”)

Descendants

• Turkish: -e

Persian

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈ‿a/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [‿ä]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [‿ä]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [‿ä]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [‿ä]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [‿e]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [‿ä]

• Rhymes: -a

Readings
Classical reading?	-a
Dari reading?	-a
Iranian reading?	-e
Tajik reading?	-a

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian -k' (-ag), from Proto-Iranian *-akah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *-akas . Compare Old Armenian -ակ (-ak).

Suffix

Dari	ـه
Iranian Persian
Tajik	-а

ـه • (-e)

1. Forms the past participle from the past stem.

   ‎شکست (šekast, past stem of شکستن (šekastan, “to break”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎شکسته (šekaste, “broken”)

   ‎مرد (mord, past stem of مردن (mordan, “to die”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎مرده (morde, “dead”)

   ‎خراب شد (xarâb šod, past stem of خراب شدن (xarâb šodan, “to be ruined”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎خراب شده (xarâb šode, “ruined”)

2. Attached to nouns to form another noun with a related meaning, often with a more abstract or less physical sense.

   ‎دامن (dâman, “skirt (of a robe)”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎دامنه (dâmane, “slope (of a mountain); domain, field of study”)

   ‎برگ (barg, “leaf”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎برگه (barge, “sheet of paper; flap of clothing; something thin and wide”)

   ‎دست (dast, “hand”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎دسته (daste, “handle; a handful, bouquet; group”)

   ‎پا (pâ, “foot”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎پایه (pâye, “foundation”)

3. Attached to present stems of verbs to form certain agent nouns.

   ‎نمای (nemây, present stem of نمودن (nemudan, “to show”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎نمایه (nemâye, “index”)

   ‎کوب (kub, present stem of کوفتن (kuftan, “to pound, to beat, to strike”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎کوبه (kube, “hammer, mallet, anything that is used to strike something”)

   ‎گزار (gozâr, present stem of گزاردن (gozârdan, “to express, to interpret”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎گزاره (gozâre, “phrase; (grammar) predicate; (logic) proposition”)

   ‎اویز (âviz, present stem of اویختن (âvixtan, “to hang, to suspend”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎اویزه (âvize, “earrings, appendix (medicine)”)

4. Attached to present stems of verbs to form certain verbal nouns.

   ‎گری (gery, present stem of گریستن (geristan, “to cry, to sob”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎گریه (gerye, “cry, sobbing”)

   ‎نال (nâl, present stem of نالیدن (nâlidan, “to cry, to bemoan, to lament”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎ناله (nâle, “cry, moan, lament”)

   ‎پوی (puy, present stem of پوییدن (puyidan, “to jog, to trot, to pace”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎پویه (puye, “jog, trot, pace”)

   ‎رنج (ranj, present stem of رنجیدن (ranjidan, “to suffer, to toil”)) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎رنجه (ranje, suffering, toil)

5. Attached to number + noun sequences to turn them into adjectives meaning "with; having" (or nouns zero-derived from the adjective).

   ‎سه سال (se sâl, “three years”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎سه ساله (se sâle, “three-year-old”)

   ‎دو چرخ (do čarx, “two wheels”) + ‎ـه (-e) → ‎دوچرخه (dočarxe, “bicycle; two-wheeled”)

   مرد سه زنه ― mard-e se zane ― man with three wives

   • c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 22”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[2]:

     نخفته‌ام ز خیالی که می‌پزد دل من
     خمار صد شبه دارم شرابخانه کجاست

     naxufta'am zi xayālē ki mē-pazad dil-i man
     xumār-i sad šab-a dāram šarābxāna kujā-st

     I have not been sleeping because of the fantasies that my heart concocts,
     I have been having a hangover for a hundred nights; where is the winehouse?

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Usage notes

• Nouns formed with this suffix may take the ezafe spelled as such: ـهٔ (-e-ye) or sometimes ـه‌ی (-e-ye).

(number + noun sequences)

• If the noun already ends with ـه (-e), the suffix is ـای (-'i) instead.
• Despite not ending in ـه (-e), the word انگشت (angošt, “finger”) is exceptional: "six-fingered" is usually شش انگشتی (šeš angošti) with the ـای (-'i) form of the suffix.

Derived terms

Persian terms suffixed with ـه

آرایه

آستانه

آواره

آوازه

افسرده

انگیزه

باریکه

بازه

بدنه

برگه

بنده

بنه

بهره

تخمه

تراشه

ترشه

تنه

تنکه

تنگه

تیغه

جزوه

جنگره

جوانه

جوره

خرخره

خرده

خوره

دامنه

دبیره

دسته

دمه

دنباله

دنده

دهه

دواله

دوده

راهبه

رسانه

رفتگان

رنجه

رودابه

روزه

رویه

رگه‌

زبانه

زمانه

زمینه

سامانه

ستیزه

سده

سرداب

سنبه

سه‌ماهه

سه‌پایه

سپیده

سیاهه

شب‌پره

شوره

شکمبه

شیده

شیره

شیوه

فرزانه

فرستاده

قفسه

لبه

مرزه

مصوبه

معشوقه

ملکه

مهره

میله

نامه

نشانه

نقشه

نوشابه

نیمه

هرآینه

هزاره

هفته

همشیره

هنگامه

وارونه

واکه

ویرانه

پالوانه

پایه

پدیده

پشته

پنجه

پیمانه

چاله

چشمه

چلچله

چنبره

چهارپایه

چپه

کوله

گدازه

گرزه

گرمابه

گریه

گزاره

گزینه

گستره

یکه

Etymology 2

Poorly attested before the twentieth century, etymology uncertain:

• From Classical Persian ـَک (-ak, diminutive suffix). Compare dialectal usage of the diminutive for the definite in Yazd, Iran.
• From Classical Persian ـی (-ē, indefinite or bare definite marker).
• From Proto-Iranian *há (“that”).

Compare Central Kurdish ـێک (êk, indefinite marker), ـەکە (eke, definite marker).

Pronunciation

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [‿e]

Readings
Iranian reading?	-e

Suffix

ـه • (-e)

2. (colloquial, Iran) Marks a definite noun; usually avoided in respectful contexts.

   مرده ― marde ― the man

   اون پسره احمقه. ― un pesare ahmaq-e. ― That guy is stupid.

   • 2021, Amir Tataloo, “من باهات قهرم”:

     مثلا یه بچه تنها که اسباب بازی هم داره ها
     ولی کسی نیست که باهاش با همون اسباب بازیه، باهاش بازی کنه

     masalan ye bačče-ye tanhâ ke asbâb bâzi ham dâre hâ
     vali kasi nist ke bâ-hâš bâ hamun asbab bâziye, bâ-hâš bâzi kone

     For example, see, a lonely kid who has a toy,
     But there's nobody to play with him with that very toy.

Usage notes

• Unlike most other suffixes, the form after a vowel other than -i is ـهه (-he) rather than ـیه (-ye). For example, آقاهه (âġâhe, “the gentleman”) rather than *آقایه (âġâye).
• The suffix is also used when responding to a question that starts with کدام (kodām, “which”, colloquially kodūm), where it functions as an impersonal pronoun that is used to identify and distinguish one instance of a noun from amongst a group of others, similar to the... one in English. e.g.

  کدومو می‌خوای؟ ― آبیه.

  kodum-o mi-xây? ― âbiye.

  Which one do you want? ― The blue one.

  کدوم‌شون به نظرت خوشگل‌ترینه؟ ― چشم ابیه.

  kodûme-šûn be nazar-et xošgel-tarîne? ― češm âbîye

  Which one of them do you think is the hottest? ― The blue-eyed one.

Etymology 3

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *-t

Proto-Semitic *-at-

Arabic ـَة (-a)bor.

Persian ـه

Borrowed from Arabic ـَة (-a).

Suffix

Dari	ـه
Iranian Persian
Tajik	-а

ـه • (-e)

1. Arabic feminine suffix

Usage notes

Same as for Etymology 1.

Derived terms

Persian terms suffixed with ـه (feminine suffix)

ساحره

شاعره

والده

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: ـه (-e)
  • Turkish: -e

Etymology 4

Verb

ـه • (-a / -e) (Tajik spelling -а)

1. colloquial form of است (ast, “is”, third-person singular indicative of بودن (budan, “to be”))

Alternative forms

• ـس (-es) (Isfahan)
• ـن (-en) (Bushehr)