-ஏ

• -அ (-a) — Spoken Tamil (Suffix sense 2, Particle sense 2)

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

• IPA^(key): /eː/

-ஏ • (-ē)

1. vocative case suffix
3. ending of locative expressions. (see usage notes)

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

• sense 2 - Mandatory in Spoken Tamil, optional in Formal Tamil; not used in High Literary Tamil.^[1]

-ஏ • (-ē)

1. indicating emphasis (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”)

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

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

4. implying previous knowledge or indicating that sth. has happened contrary to the hearer's expectations.
5. (poetic) an expletive

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