Continuing a Common Albanian compound*aý ~ *aí, fromProto-Albanian*ahýh ~ *aíh, from a Pre-Proto-Albanian*au̯- ("away, from") +*hýh ~ íh, continuingProto-Indo-European*h₂au̯(“away, from”) andProto-Indo-European*sos(“that”). The second component, from Common Albanian*ý ~ *í, is identical to the Albanian postponed definite article -i, as well as -u, which changed due to contact with final k, g, or a vowel. (e.g.djali,burri,qeni,qyteti, alsobariu,ariu,barku).[1]
^Demiraj, Bardhylet al. (2021), “ai”, inDPEWA. Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen [DPEWA. Digital Philological-Etymological Dictionary of Old Albanian]
transnewguinea.org, citing Franklin KJ. 1975.Comments on Proto-Engan. In SA Wurm, Ed. New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study: Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 263-275.'
“ai”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2 July 2023
Ai tontiño, porque iñoras o qu’he mantér casa e vida, que por ben que estea sortida, hai faltas a todas horas. O segundo, que teu pai pensa com’home de ben, e así por vergonza ten unha nora que non trai. Orasme, sobr’esto hai, que a dous parizós que teña, non tendes donde vos veña, cando ela non colla un mal.
Oh, silly, because you don't know what it is to keep house and life, no matter how well stocked it is, there's lack at all hours. Second, your father thinks like a good man, and to his shame he has a daughter-in-law who doesn't bear. However, on this matter, with just two childbirths that she has, you'll be left resourceless, and that if she doesn't get sick.
Adelaar, K. A. (1992),Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology[5], Canberra: The Australian National University
Asmah Haji Omar (1977), “The Iban Language”, inThe Sarawak Museum Journal, volume XXV, number46, pages81-100
Smith, A. (2017),The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Matthias Alexander Castrén,Versuch Einer Jenissei-Ostjakischen Und Kottischen Sprachlehre: Nebst Aus Den Genannten Sprachen, St. Petersburg: Leopold Voss Publisher, 1858, page 195
Werner, Heinrich (2002),Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen, volume 1, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag,→ISBN, page72
Werner, Heinrich K. (2003), Röhrborn, Klaus, Schellbach-Kopra, Ingrid, editors,M. A. Castrén und die Jenissejistik: Die Jennisej-Sprachen des 19. Jahrhunderts (Veröffentlichungen des Societas Uralo-Altaica;62) (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag,→ISBN, page135
Werner, Heinrich K. (2005),Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG,→ISBN, page106
Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Lương Bèn (2011),Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary][8][9] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
Dương Nhật Thanh; Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003), Hoàng Triều Ân, editor,Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày][10] (in Tày and Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học xã hội [Social Sciences Publishing House]
Léopold Michel Cadière (1910),Dictionnaire Tày-Annamite-Français [Tày-Vietnamese-French Dictionary][11] (in French), Hanoi: Impressions d'Extrême-Orient
1989,Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea,Jenesis3:5:
Sapos yutupela i kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai, baiai bilong yutupela i op na yutupela i kisim save long wanem samting i gutpela, na wanem samting i nogut, na bai yutupela i kamap wankain olsem God. God i save long dispela, olsem na em i tambuim yutupela long kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai.”
Used before a non-verbal element fronted for emphasis. Unemphatic initial verbs, on the other hand, employ the interrogative particlea.
This word is found in formal language. As an initial interrogative particle, it is often dropped altogether in colloquial language or replaced withife in some southern dialects.
Likewise, with the meaning "whether", this may be dropped colloquially. An alternative construction influenced by English is to replaced theai withos(“if”) followed by the appropriate dialect-specific indicating an emphatic subordinate clause, namelytaw in south Wales andmai orna in the north.
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke,et al., editors (1950–present), “ai”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
A possessed noun that is the object of this postposition does not take the possessed suffix-dü. The postposition can thus combine with nouns referring to body parts and parts of objects to form more complex postpositions/relational nouns.