ـه

Persian

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [‿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]

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 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]‎^[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)

4. (colloquial) Functions as the impersonal pronoun the... one (“one thing (among a group of others)”).

   کدومو می‌خوای؟ ― آبیه.

   kodum-o mi-xây? ― âbiye.

   Which one do you want? ― The blue one.

5. (colloquial) the; the definite article.

   مرده ― marde ― the man

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

Etymology 2

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)

Etymology 3

Verb

ـه • (-e)

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