-ஏ

See also: ஏ and -ஏன்

Tamil

Etymology

Cognate with Kannada -ಏ (-ē), Malayalam -ഏ (-ē) and Telugu ఏ (ē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eː/

Particle

-ஏ • (-ē)

1. (finally, with rising intonation) question marker asking clarification of possible error.

   இது சரி தானே? ― itu cari tāṉē? ― This is correct, right?

2. (poetic) an expletive
3. implying previous knowledge or indicating that something has happened contrary to the hearer's expectations.

Suffix

-ஏ • (-ē)

1. vocative case suffix
2. indicating emphasis or emphaticness (serves to pinpoint or focus sharply on the referent of the word to which it is added)

   ‎நான் (nāṉ) + ‎-ஏ (-ē) → ‎நானே (nāṉē, “I myself”)

4. ending of locative expressions. (see usage notes)

   ‎அங்கு (aṅku) + ‎-ஏ (-ē) → ‎அங்கே (aṅkē)

Usage notes

• Suffix sense 3 - Mandatory in Spoken Tamil, optional in Formal Tamil; not used in High Literary Tamil. Becomes -அ (-a) or -எ (-e) when not used emphatically.

Derived terms

Tamil terms suffixed with -ஏ

அங்கே

அப்பாலே

உடனே

உள்ளே

எங்கே

ஏற்கவே

கீழே

நேரே

பின்னாலே

பின்னே

மேலே

வயிற்றாலேபோ

References

• S. Ramakrishnan (1992), “-ஏ”, in தற்காலத் தமிழ் அகராதி [Dictionary of Contemporary Tamil] (in Tamil), Madras: Cre-A Publishers, page [2]