ei

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ei"

Catalan

Pronunciation

Interjection

ei

  1. hey (exclamation to get attention)

Further reading

Classical Nahuatl

Numeral

ei

  1. Obsolete spelling of ēyi

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ei, from Old Dutch *ei, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛi̯/
  • audio (Belgium)(file)
  • Hyphenation: ei
  • Rhymes: -ɛi̯
  • Homophone: IJ

Noun

ei n (plural eieren, diminutive eitje n)

  1. egg
    Ik heb een ei gebakken voor het ontbijt. ― I fried an egg for breakfast.
    Pasen is een feest waarbij veel eieren worden geschilderd. ― Easter is a festival where many eggs are painted.
    In deze doos zitten twaalf eieren. ― In this box, there are twelve eggs.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: eier
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: airi
  • Jersey Dutch: āi
  • Negerhollands: ee, eiu, eyu, eju

Anagrams

Estonian

Etymology

From the Proto-Finno-Ugric negative verb stem *e- ~ *ä- ~ *a-. Cognates include Finnish ei and Northern Sami ii.

Interjection

ei

  1. no

Antonyms

Verb

ei

  1. (auxiliary verb) don't, doesn't, not: used in negative forms of non-imperative verbs. Ma ei tea. I don't know. (Compare: Ma tean. I know.)

Usage notes

The verb follows the word ei.

In the present tense indicative, the form of the verb coincides with the imperative of the second person singular. In past tenses indicative, the form of the verb is personal past participle. In the conditional mood, the form of the verb coincides with third person singular conditional in the present tense or the past tense. In the indirect mood, the form of the verb is the indirect form.

Derived terms

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese eu, from Inherited from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

ei m sg or f sg

  1. First person singular nominative pronoun; I

See also

Fala personal pronouns
nominative dative accusative disjunctive
first person singular ei me, -mi mi
plural common nos musL
nusLV
nos, -nusM 		nos
masculine noshotrusM noshotrusM
feminine noshotrasM noshotrasM
second person singular tú te, -ti ti
plural common vos vusLV
vos, -vusM 		vos
masculine voshotrusM voshotrusM
feminine voshotrasM voshotrasM
third person singular masculine el le, -li uLV, oM el
feminine ela a ela
plural masculine elis usLV, osM elis
feminine elas as elas
reflexive — se, -si sí

References

  • Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎, 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse eigi.

Pronunciation

Adverb

ei

  1. not

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • ei og ikki - as well as, both ... and
  • grát ei - do not weep (song title by Eivør Pálsdóttir, 2007)

Finnish

Etymology

The indicative forms are from Proto-Finnic *e-, from Proto-Uralic *e- ~ *ä- ~ *a- (negative verb stem). The imperative forms are from Proto-Finnic *älä-, from the Proto-Finno-Ugric negative imperative verb stem *älä-.

Details and cognates

Noteworthy forms include eivät (pro earlier evät, reformed after ei). For more forms, see the Proto-Finnic and Proto-Uralic pages.

Cognates for the indicative forms include Estonian ei, Karelian ei, Livonian ä’b, Veps ei, Northern Sami ii, Skolt Sami ij, Erzya а (a), э- (e-), Eastern Mari ы- (y-), Udmurt уг (ug), Komi-Zyrian оз (oz), Northern Mansi (ä-), Forest Enets (i-) and Northern Selkup (aša) (Taz). Cognates for the imperative forms include Estonian ära, Northern Sami ale, Kildin Sami ель (jel’), Erzya иля (iľa).

Not related to Swedish ej, Icelandic ei, Old Norse eigi, despite the similarity; the Finnic and Norse terms are false cognates.

Pronunciation

Verb

ei (third-person singular form)

  1. (auxiliary) The negative verb or negation verb; not, be not, do not, etc. (+ connegative form)
    En ole käynyt siellä. ― I have not been there.
    Hän ei ole kotona. ― She isn't home.
    Etkö tiedä? ― Don't you know?
    Älä koske siihen! ― Don't touch that!

Usage notes

  • With certain conjunctions, contractions may be used (e.g. miksi + ei → miksei). In some cases, like ellei and jollei, the independent conjunction has fallen out of use, but the contractions still remain in use. For other cases, the contractions are optional, but commonly used. When the contraction is used, the negative verb may effectively shift ahead in the clause:
    En tiedä, miksi hän ei tullut. → En tiedä, miksei hän tullut.
    I don't know why he didn't come.
Grammar
  • The negation verb is used with the connegative form of the main verb.
  • In the active voice, the verb ei is inflected in person and mood (only for imperative, otherwise the indicative forms are used).
    • In the indicative mood and present tense (including for olla in the perfect tense), the connegative form is identical to the second-person singular imperative.
    • In the indicative mood and past tense (including for olla in the pluperfect tense and the main verb in the perfect and pluperfect tenses), the connegative form is the past active participle (-nut / -nyt).
    • In the conditional and potential moods, the connegative ends with the mood markers -isi- and -ne- (without the personal ending), respectively.
    • In the imperative mood, the connegative form is the same as the positive form for the second-person singular, while for the other forms a form ending in -ko / -kö is used.
  • In the passive voice, the third-person singular ei (or älköön for the imperative mood) is used.
    • In the present tense, the connegative form is the impersonal or passive form without the final -an / -än (indicative), -in (conditional), -en (potential) and -on / -ön (imperative).
    • In the past tense (including the perfect and pluperfect tenses), the connegative form is the past passive participle (-ttu / -tty).
  • The total object in the negative is always in the partitive case, not the accusative case (whether that be the nominative, genitive or a special form):
    Näen koiran. → En näe koiraa. ― I see a dog. → I don't see a dog. (accusative → partitive)
    Näen naiset. → En näe naisia. ― I see the women. → I don't see the women. (accusative → partitive)
    Näen sinut. → En näe sinua. ― I (can) see you. → I don't see you. (accusative → partitive)
An example of a full paradigm of active forms
  • Indicative:
  • Hän näkee. → Hän ei näe.
    He sees. / He does see. → He doesn't see.
  • Hän näki. → Hän ei nähnyt.
    He saw. / He did see. → He didn't see.
  • Hän on nähnyt. → Hän ei ole nähnyt.
    He has seen. → He hasn't seen.
  • Hän oli nähnyt. → Hän ei ollut nähnyt.
    He had seen. → He hadn't seen.
  • Conditional:
  • Hän näkisi. → Hän ei näkisi.
    He would see. → He wouldn't see.
  • Hän olisi nähnyt. → Hän ei olisi nähnyt.
    He would have seen. → He wouldn't have seen.
  • Imperative:
  • Näe! → Älä näe!
    See! → Don't see!
  • Potential:
  • Hän nähnee. → Hän ei nähne.
    He probably sees. → He probably doesn't see.
  • Hän lienee nähnyt. → Hän ei liene nähnyt.
    He probably has seen. → He probably hasn't seen.
An example of a full paradigm of passive forms
  • Indicative:
  • Hänet nähdään. → Häntä ei nähdä.
    He is seen. → He isn't seen.
  • Hänet nähtiin. → Häntä ei nähty.
    He was seen. → He wasn't seen.
  • Hänet on nähty. → Häntä ei ole nähty.
    He has been seen. → He hasn't been seen.
  • Hänet oli nähty. → Häntä ei ollut nähty.
    He had been seen. → He hadn't been seen.
  • Conditional:
  • Hänet nähtäisiin. → Häntä ei nähtäisi.
    He would be seen. → He wouldn't be seen.
  • Hänet olisi nähty. → Häntä ei olisi nähty.
    He would have been seen. → He wouldn't have been seen.
  • Imperative (the second form, perfect imperative, is rare):
  • Nähtäköön! → Älköön nähtäkö!
    Let (it) be seen! → Don't let (it) be seen!
  • Oltakoon nähty! → Älköön oltako nähty.
    Let (it) have been seen! → Don't let (it) have been seen!
  • Potential:
  • Hänet nähtäneen. → Häntä ei nähtäne.
    He probably is seen. → He probably isn't seen.
  • Hänet lienee nähty. → Häntä ei liene nähty.
    He probably has been seen. → He probably hasn't been seen.

Conjugation

  • The negation verb has no infinitive form.
  • Indicative, conditional and potential moods use the indicative forms (stem e-), for which the verb is conjugated only in person (the moods are distinguished by the connegative form used).
  • In the imperative mood the negation verb has the stem äl-. As with all verbs, the first-person plural imperative is formal or dated, while the third-person imperative (both singular and plural) is dated.
  • An archaic optative mood exists and is used mainly in poetry.
person indicative mood imperative mood optative mood
1st sing. en — —
2nd sing. et älä (ällös)
3rd sing. ei älköön (älköön)
1st plur. emme älkäämme (älköömme)
2nd plur. ette älkää (älköötte)
3rd plur. eivät älkööt (älkööt)

Derived terms

Related terms

Interjection

ei

  1. no (used to show disagreement, negation, denial, refusal, or prohibition)
    Onko hauki lintu? Ei, se on kala.
    Is a pike a bird? No, it is a fish.

Usage notes

Usually inflected for person; see above.

Antonyms

Further reading

  • “ei”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Galician

Pronunciation

Interjection

ei

  1. gee up
    Synonym: arre
    Antonym: xo
  2. hey
    Synonyms: eh, oi

References

  • “ei” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • “ei” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • “ei” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

German

Pronunciation

Interjection

ei

  1. whoa, hey (expression of surprise)

Synonyms

Gothic

Romanization

ei

  1. Romanization of 𐌴𐌹

Icelandic

Etymology 1

From Old Norse ei. A clipping of eigi, from Proto-Germanic *ni aiw-gin (“never”), from *ne, *ni (“not”) + *aiw (“always, for ever”) + *-gin. Not related to Finnish ei (“no”).

Pronunciation

Adverb

ei

  1. (archaic, poetic) not
    Örvæntið ei!
    Despair not!
    Ég veit ei hvað skal segja.
    I know not what to say.
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See e.

Pronunciation

Noun

ei

  1. dative singular indefinite of e

References

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *e-, from the Proto-Uralic *e-. Cognates include Finnish ei and Estonian ei.

Pronunciation

Particle

ei

  1. no

Antonyms

Verb

ei

  1. not
    • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 63:
      Linnuil ono nälkä, evät rooka saa.
      The birds are hungry, they don't get food.

Conjugation

Inflection of ei
indicative imperative
1st singular en -
2nd singular et elä
3rd singular ei elköö
1st plural emmä -
2nd plural että elkää
3rd plural evät elkööt
impersonal ei elköö
*) The interrogative is formed by adding the suffix -k (-kä?) or -kse to the indicative.

References

  • V. I. Junus (1936) Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka‎, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 128
  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 29
  • Arvo Laanest (1997) Isuri keele Hevaha murde sõnastik, Eesti Keele Instituut, page 24
  • Olga I. Konkova, Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014) Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎, →ISBN, page 15

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈej/
  • Rhymes: -ej
  • Hyphenation: éi

Etymology 1

Syncopated form of elli (“he”), from Vulgar Latin *illi, from Latin ille (“that”).

Pronoun

ei m

  1. (poetic, archaic, after the verb) Alternative form of egli

Etymology 2

Syncopated form of elli (“they”), from Latin illī (“those”).

Pronoun

ei m pl

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of elli

Japanese

Romanization

ei

  1. Rōmaji transcription of えい
  2. Rōmaji transcription of エイ

Karelian

Verb

ei

  1. (does) not

Kott

Etymology 1

From Proto-Yeniseian *ʔej- ("pine"). Compare Arin aja (“pine”).

Noun

ei (plural en)

  1. pine tree

Etymology 2

From Proto-Yeniseian *ʔej ("tongue"). Compare Pumpokol aj (“tongue”).

Noun

ei (plural ējaŋ)

  1. voice, sound

Latin

Pronunciation 1

Interjection

ei

  1. Alternative form of hei (“expression of grief or fear”)

Pronunciation 2

Pronoun

eī

  1. inflection of is:
    1. dative masculine/feminine/neuter singular
    2. nominative masculine plural

Latvian

Interjection

ei

  1. used to stimulate somebody's attention
  2. used to express pleasure, surprise or admiration

Limburgish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ei, from Old Dutch *ei, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Pronunciation

Noun

ei n

  1. egg

Livvi

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ei. Cognates include Finnish ei and Estonian ei.

Pronunciation

Verb

ei

  1. not

Conjugation

Inflection of ei
indicative imperative
1st singular en -
2nd singular et älä
3rd singular ei älgäh
1st plural emmo älgiämmö
2nd plural etto älgiä
3rd plural ei äldähes

References

  • N. Gilojeva, S. Rudakova (2009) Karjalan kielen Livvin murdehen algukursu [Beginners' course of Karelian language's Livvi dialect]‎ (in Livvi), Petrozavodsk, →ISBN, page 20
  • Tatjana Boiko (2019) “ei”, in Suuri Karjal-Venʹalaine Sanakniigu (livvin murreh) [The Big Karelian-Russian dictionary (Livvi dialect)], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 38

Malasanga

Noun

ei

  1. fire

Further reading

  • Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

Mandarin

Romanization

ei

  1. Nonstandard spelling of ēi.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of ěi.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of èi.

Usage notes

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mbyá Guaraní

Noun

ei

  1. honey

Middle Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Dutch *ei, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

ei n

  1. egg

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Further reading

  • “ei”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “ei”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Noun

ei

  1. Alternative form of ey (“egg”)

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German ei, from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

ei n

  1. egg

Declension

Declension of ei (neuter, a-stem)
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein daȥ ei diu eiger
genitive eines dës eiges dër eiger
dative einem dëm eige dën eigern
accusative ein daȥ ei diu eiger
Declension of ei (neuter, a-stem)
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein daȥ ei diu eier
genitive eines dës eies dër eier
dative einem dëm eie dën eiern
accusative ein daȥ ei diu eier

Descendants

  • Alemannic German:
    • Swabian: Oi
  • Bavarian: Oa
    • Mòcheno: oi
  • Central Franconian: Ei, Ää, Aai
    • Luxembourgish: Ee
  • German: Ei
  • Vilamovian: e
  • Yiddish: איי (ey)

References

  • Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “ei”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke‎, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Murui Huitoto

ei
Root Classifier
ei- —

Etymology

Cognate with Minica Huitoto ei.

Pronunciation

Root

ei

  1. mother

Noun

ei

  1. Synonym of eiño
    • 2008 [1978], Huitoto Murui Bible, 2nd edition, Mateo 1:3, page 5:
      Iaɨmaiaɨ mɨcorɨ eidɨ Tamar mɨcorɨ.
      The mother of the late two of them was the late Tamara.
  2. vocative of eiño

Declension

Declension of ei
singular plural kinship plural
Absolutive ei eiyaɨ eitɨaɨ
Nominative eidɨ eiyaɨdɨ eitɨaɨdɨ
Accusative eina eiyaɨna eitɨaɨna
Dative/Locative eimo eiyaɨmo eitɨaɨmo
Ablative eimona eiyaɨmona eitɨaɨmona
Instrumental eido eiyaɨdo eitɨaɨdo
Causal eiri eiyaɨri eitɨaɨri
Privative einino eiyaɨnino eitɨaɨnino

Derived terms

References

  • Shirley Burtch (1983) Diccionario Huitoto Murui (Tomo I) (Linguistica Peruana No. 20)‎ (in Spanish), Yarinacocha, Peru: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 75
  • Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017) A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.‎, Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 125

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse einn.

Pronunciation

Article

ei

  1. feminine singular of en

Pronoun

ei

  1. feminine singular of en

Adverb

ei

  1. (archaic) not

Synonyms

Verb

ei

  1. imperative of eie

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse einn.

Article

ei f (masculine ein, neuter eit)

  1. a, an (indefinite article)
    Ei ny bok.
    A new book.

Pronoun

ei

  1. feminine singular of ein

Etymology 2

From Middle Norwegian eigh, from Old Norse eigi.

Adverb

ei

  1. not
    Synonyms: ikkje, kje

References

  • “ei” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • “ei”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Uncertain.

Pronunciation

Adverb

ei

  1. here is, here are

Descendants

Old High German

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Akin to Old English ǣġ, Old Norse egg.

Further Indo-European cognates include Latin ōvum and Ancient Greek ᾠόν (ōión)

Noun

ei n

  1. (zoology) an egg

Descendants

  • Middle High German: ei
    • Alemannic German:
      • Swabian: Oi
    • Bavarian: Oa
      • Mòcheno: oi
    • Central Franconian: Ei, Ää, Aai
      • Hunsrik: Eu
      • Luxembourgish: Ee
    • German: Ei
    • Vilamovian: e
    • Yiddish: איי (ey)

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *aij, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

ei n

  1. egg

Declension

Declension of ei (neuter ja-stem)
singular plural
nominative ei ei
accusative ei ei
genitive eies eiō
dative eie eium
instrumental — —


Descendants

  • Middle Low German: ei, egg, eig
    • Low German:
      • German Low German: Ei
        Westphalian:
        Lippisch: Egg
        Märkisch: Ägg
        Ravensbergisch: Åich
        Sauerländisch: Ai
        Westmünsterländisch: Äi
      • Plautdietsch: Ei

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese eis.

Pronoun

ei

  1. there

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

Etymology 1

Adverb

ei (not comparable)

  1. Apocopic form of eis; used preceding the pronouns lo, la, los or las

Etymology 2

Interjection

ei

  1. hey (exclamation to get attention)

Romanian

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illī, nominative masculine plural of ille.

Pronoun

ei m pl (third-person plural, feminine equivalent ele)

  1. (nominative form) they (used for an all-male or mixed-sex group)
    Synonym: (polite form) dumnealor
Declension
Nominative
ei
Accusative
stressed unstressed
ei îi
Genitive
one form for all numbers and genders
lor
Dative
stressed unstressed
lor le
Reflexive
Accusative Dative
stressed unstressed stressed unstressed
sine se sieși își

Pronoun

ei m (stressed accusative form of ei)

  1. (direct object, preceded by preposition, such as "pe", "cu", "la", or "pentru") them (all-male or mixed-sex group)

Related terms

  • el (third-person masculine singular)
  • ea (third-person feminine singular)
  • ele (third-person feminine plural)

See also

Romanian personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person eu noi
2nd person plain tu voi
semi-polite dumneata dumneavoastră
polite dumneavoastră
3rd person
familiar 		m el ei
f ea ele
3rd person
polite 		m dumnealui dumnealor
f dumneaei

Etymology 2

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *illaei, from Latin illa, from ille.

Pronoun

ei f (genitive form of ea, masculine equivalent lui, plural lor)

  1. her
    Synonym: său
    Ai cartea ei?
    Do you have her book?
Declension
declension of ei
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite ei ei ei ei
definite — — — —
genitive/
dative 		indefinite ei ei ei ei
definite — — — —

Pronoun

ei f (stressed dative form of ea, masculine equivalent lui, plural lor)

  1. to her
    Synonym: (unstressed form) îi

Sabu

ei

Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

ei

  1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

References

  • ABVD
  • Comparative Austronesian Dictionary

Sardinian

Pronunciation

Adverb

ei

  1. yes

References

Scots

Noun

ei (plural een)

  1. (South Scots) an eye.

Pronoun

ei

  1. (South Scots, personal) he (alternative form of hei)

Tedim Chin

Pronoun

ei

  1. we

References

  • Zomi Ordbog based on the work of D.L. Haokip

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *e-. Cognates include Finnish ei.

Verb

ei

  1. not; expresses negation.

Inflection

Inflection of ei
indicative imperative
1st singular en —
2nd singular ed ala
3rd singular ei algha
1st plural em algam
2nd plural et algat
3rd plural ei algha

References

  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “не, ни”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎, Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Votic

Etymology

Compare Russian эй (ej), Finnish hei, Ingrian hei.

Pronunciation

  • (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA(key): /ˈei̯/,
  • Rhymes: -ei̯
  • Hyphenation: ei

Interjection

ei

  1. hey

References

  • Hallap, V., Adler, E., Grünberg, S., Leppik, M. (2012) “ei”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn

Welsh

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh y, from Proto-Brythonic *eið, from Proto-Celtic *esyo m and *esyās f; compare Old Irish a (“his, her, its, their”) and Sanskrit अस्य (asyá, “his, its”) and अस्यास् (asyā́s, “her”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Determiner

ei

  1. his, its (with reference to a masculine noun; triggers soft mutation of following consonant)
    Gwelir y thema dro ar ôl tro yn ei gerddi a’i emynau.
    The theme is seen repeatedly in his poems and his hymns.
  2. her, its (with reference to a feminine noun; triggers aspirate mutation of following consonant and h-prothesis of a following vowel)
    Gwelir y thema dro ar ôl tro yn ei cherddi a’i hemynau.
    The theme is seen repeatedly in her poems and her hymns.

Pronoun

ei

  1. him, it (with reference to masculine nouns; as object of a verbal noun; triggers soft mutation of following consonant)
    • 18th century, Wil Hopcyn, “Bugeilio’r gwenith gwyn”:
      Myfi’n bugeilio’r gwenith gwyn,
      Ac arall yn ei fedi.
      Me watching the white wheat,
      And another reaping it.
  2. her, it (with reference to masculine nouns; as object of a verbal noun; triggers aspirate mutation of following consonant and h-prothesis of a following vowel)
    • Traditional, “Milgi, milgi”:
      Ar ben y bryn mae sgwarnog fach, ar hyd y nos mae'n pori
      A’i chefen brith a’i bola bola gwyn yn hidio dim am filgi.
      On top of the hill there's a little hare, all night long she grazes
      With her speckled back and her white white belly without taking any heed of any greyhound.
Usage notes
  • In formal Welsh, masculine ef or feminine hi is added after the noun or verbnoun which ei precedes to indicates emphasis on the determiner or pronoun. In colloquial Welsh, the masculine takes e or o (southern and northern forms respectively) after a consonant and fe or fo (southern and northern) after a vowel, whereas the feminine takes hi, but is not necessarily an indicator of emphasis. Here, it is often included with the determiner and always included with the pronoun. The exception to the latter case is in passive constructions employing cael, where no addition is found.
  • In formal Welsh, the contraction 'i is a valid form of ei found after mostly functional vowel-final words. In colloquial Welsh, ei is often contracted to 'i after almost any vowel-final word. The exception is both forms of the language is after the preposition i (“to, for”), after which ei contracts to 'w. (Contraction to 'w after wedi is sometimes encountered but considered non-standard.)
  • Pronomial ei and 'i can occur before any verbal noun. Before a verb, pronomial 'i is found only in formal language after certain vowel-final preverbal particles. See entry for 'i for more information.
  • The colloquial pronunciation /iː/, /ɪ/ is the original pronunciation, as shown by the Middle Welsh form y. The more careful pronunciation /ei̯/ is a later spelling pronunciation.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

ei

  1. second-person singular future of mynd (also present tense in the literary language)

Further reading

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ei”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Ye'kwana

Variant orthographies
Bolívar state ei
Brazil ei

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Verb

ei

  1. (intransitive, agentive) to be
Usage notes

Many forms of this verb are irregular. Some are based on a root ei ~ e', some on a ~ aa, some on a'ja, and some on ööne ~ wene:

  • ei ~ e' is used with most tense/aspect/mood markers and all adverbial and nominal derivatives of the verb.
  • a ~ aa is used for the nonpast form, question forms, and two third-person forms na'ñojo and naichü.
  • a'ja is used for past imperfectives.
  • ööne ~ wene is used for the permanent aspect; this is the only verb in the language that has such an aspect.

The verb also takes an irregular suffix -ya in place of the ordinary recent/distant past perfective suffix -i. Similarly, the plural form of the same suffix is -yato rather than -icho.

This verb can be used as an auxiliary to form various constructions, making it possible to express tense/aspect/mood for constructions made with non-finite verb forms by putting the relevant markers on the copula instead.

Etymology 2

Verb

ei

  1. (transitive) to seek, to look for

References

  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “a'ja, ei, ka, ma, na, öönene, wa, weneene”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon, pages 215–216, 238–239
  • Hall, Katherine (2007) “wenēne”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
  • Hall, Katherine (2007) “wenɲə”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021

Zou

Pronunciation

Pronoun

ei

  1. we (exclusive)

Synonyms

References

  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40
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