ـه

Persian

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [‿a]

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

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [‿e]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [‿ä]

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


Iranian Persian	ـه
Dari	ـه
Tajik	-а

ـه • (-e)

Forms the past participle from the past stem.
‎ (šekast, past stem of (šekastan, “to break”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (šekaste, “broken”)

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

‎ (xarâb šod, past stem of (xarâb šodan, “to be ruined”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (xarâb šode, “ruined”)
Attached to nouns to form another noun with a related meaning, often with a more abstract or less physical sense.
‎ (dâman, “skirt (of a robe)”) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (dâmane, “slope (of a mountain); domain, field of study”)

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

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

‎ (pâ, “foot”) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (pâye, “foundation”)
Attached to present stems of verbs to form certain agent nouns.
‎ (nemây, present stem of (nemudan, “to show”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (nemâye, “index”)

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

‎ (gozâr, present stem of (gozârdan, “to express, to interpret”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (gozâre, “phrase, predicate (grammer), proposition (logic)”)

‎ (âviz, present stem of (âvixtan, “to hang, to suspend”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (âvize, “earrings, appendix (medicine)”)
Attached to present stems of verbs to form certain verbal nouns.
‎ (gery, present stem of (geristan, “to cry, to sob”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (gerye, “cry, sobbing”)

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

‎ (puy, present stem of (puyidan, “to jog, to trot, to pace”)) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (puye, “jog, trot, pace”)
Attached to number + noun sequences to turn them into adjectives meaning "with; having" (or nouns zero-derived from the adjective).
‎ (se sâl, “three years”) + ‎ (-e) → ‎ (se sâle, “three-year-old”)

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

― mard-e se zane ― man with three wives
- c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 22”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎^[1]:
  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)
(colloquial) the; the definite article.
― marde ― the man

Usage notes

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

(Colloquial usage as the definite article)

The suffix is used when responding to a question that starts with (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.
kodum-o mi-xây? ― âbiye.
Which one do you want? ― The blue one.

kodûme-šûn be nazar-et xošgil-tarîne? ― češm âbîye
Which one of them do you think is the hottest? ― The blue-eyed one.

(number + noun sequences)

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

Derived terms

Persian terms suffixed with ـه

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic ـَة (-a).

Suffix


Iranian Persian	ـه
Dari	ـه
Tajik	-а

ـه • (-e)

Arabic feminine suffix

Usage notes

Same as for Etymology 1.

Derived terms

Persian terms suffixed with ـه (feminine suffix)

Etymology 3

Verb

ـه • (-e)

Colloquial form of (ast, “is”, third-person singular indicative of (budan, “to be”))