ei

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈej]

ei

1. hey (exclamation to get attention)

• “ei” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ei”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

ei

1. Obsolete spelling of ēyi.

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

• IPA^(key): /ɛi̯/

• Audio (Belgium):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ei
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯
• Homophone: IJ

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.

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

• ie

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

ei

1. no

• jaa, jah

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.)

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.

• eitama

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/
• Rhymes: -ei̯
• Syllabification: ei

ei m sg or f sg

1. First person singular nominative pronoun; I

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

From Old Norse eigi.

• IPA^(key): [ai]

ei

1. not

• ikki

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

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-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/, [ˈe̞i̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification^(key): ei

ei (third-person singular indicative)

1. (auxiliary) The negative verb or negation verb; not, be not, do not, etc. [with connegative]

   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!

• 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.

• 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)

• epä-
  • evätä

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.

Usually inflected for person; see above.

• (echo answer; using the verb in the positive)
• kyllä
• (colloquial) joo, juu

• “ei”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja‎^[2] (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

• IPA^(key): [ˈej]

ei

1. gee up

   Synonym: arre

   Antonym: xo

2. hey

   Synonyms: eh, oi

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ei”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ei”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ei”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

For the “caressing” sense compare Dutch aaien.

• IPA^(key): /aɪ̯/

ei

1. whoa, hey (expression of surprise)

   Synonyms: ach, oh, huch, hui, hey

2. (childish, parentese, often reduplicated as ei ei) said when patting or caressing a person or animal

• ei machen, ei ei machen (“to pat, caress”)

ei

1. Romanization of 𐌴𐌹

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”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈeiː/
• Rhymes: -eiː
• Homophones: ey, Ey

ei

1. (archaic, poetic) not

   Örvæntið ei!

   Despair not!

   Ég veit ei hvað skal segja.

   I know not what to say.

• (not): eigi, ekki

• eður ei
• gleym-mér-ei

See e.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛːɪ/
• Rhymes: -ɛːɪ

ei

1. dative singular indefinite of e

• “ei” and “eigi” in: Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)

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

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/, [ˈe̞i̯]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/, [ˈe̞i̯]
• (Hevaha) IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/, [ˈe̞i̯]
• Rhymes: -ei̯
• Hyphenation: ei

ei

1. no

• niin, ja

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.

• ei is a defective verb: It is only inflected for person, and has a distinct imperative series.

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.

• V. I. Junus (1936) Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka‎^[3], 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^[4], →ISBN, page 15

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

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

ei m

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

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

ei m pl

1. (archaic) Alternative form of elli

ei

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

ei

1. (does) not

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

ei (plural en)

1. pine tree

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

ei (plural ējaŋ)

1. voice, sound

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ei̯/, [ɛi̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ei̯/, [ɛi̯]

ei

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈe.iː/, [ˈeiː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.i/, [ˈɛːi]

eī

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

ei

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

• Éï (Eupen)

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

• IPA^(key): /ɛi̯/, [ɛːi̯]
• Hyphenation: ei
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

ei n

1. egg

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈei̯/
• Hyphenation: ei
• Rhymes: -ei̯

ei

1. not

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

• N. Gilojeva, S. Rudakova (2009) Karjalan kielen Livvin murdehen algukursu‎^[5] (in Livvi), Petrozavodsk, →ISBN, page 20
• Tatjana Boiko (2019) “ei”, in Suuri Karjal-Venʹalaine Sanakniigu (livvin murreh), 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 38

ei

1. fire

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

ei

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

• 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.

ei

1. honey

• ey

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

ei n

1. egg

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

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

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

ei

1. Alternative form of ey (“egg”)

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

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈɛi̯/

ei n

1. egg

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

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

ei
Root	Classifier
ei-	—

Cognate with Minica Huitoto ei.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛi̯]
• Hyphenation: ei

ei

1. mother

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

• Shirley Burtch (1983) Diccionario Huitoto Murui (Tomo I) (Linguistica Peruana No. 20)‎^[6] (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.‎^[7], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 125

• ai (Mooring)
• ek (Sylt)

From Old Norse eigi.

ei

1. (Föhr-Amrum) not

From Old Norse einn.

• IPA^(key): /æɪ̯/

ei

1. feminine singular of en

ei

1. feminine singular of en

ei

1. (archaic) not

• (not): ikke

ei

1. imperative of eie

• IPA^(key): [ɛ̝ɪ̯ː]

From Old Norse einn.

ei f (masculine ein, neuter eit)

1. a, an (indefinite article)

   Ei ny bok.

   A new book.

ei

1. feminine singular of ein

From Middle Norwegian eigh, from Old Norse eigi.

ei

1. not

   Synonyms: ikkje, kje

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

• ex
• ey

Uncertain.

• IPA^(key): /ˈej/

ei

1. here is, here are
   • 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 147 (facsimile):

     eimeaca eimaca

     «ei-me aca; ei-m'aca!»

     "Here I am, here I am!"

• Portuguese: ei, eis

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)

ei n

1. (zoology) an egg

• 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)

• eig, egg

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

ei n

1. egg

• 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

From Portuguese eis.

ei

1. there

ei (not comparable)

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

ei

1. hey (exclamation to get attention)

• IPA^(key): /ˈjej/
• Rhymes: -ej
• Hyphenation: ei

• Audio:

  (file)

Inherited from Latin illī, nominative masculine plural of ille.

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

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

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)

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

Inherited from Latin illaei.

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

1. her

   Synonym: său

   Ai cartea ei?

   Do you have her book?

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

1. to her

   Synonym: (unstressed form) îi

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

ei

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

• ABVD
• Comparative Austronesian Dictionary

• (standard) IPA^(key): /ei/

ei

1. yes

• “ei” in Ditzionàriu in línia de sa limba e de sa cultura sarda (2016). Searchable in multiple languages at ditzionariu.sardegnacultura.it

ei (plural een)

1. (Southern Scots) an eye.

ei

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

ei

1. we

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

• IPA^(key): /eː/

ei (upper case Ei)

1. (US) A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.

   Synonym: è

• Canada: (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, À à,  â, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dł dł, Dz dz, E e, É é, È è, Ê ê, G g, Gw gw, Gh gh, Ghw ghw, H h, I i, Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k, Kw kw, Kʼ kʼ, Kʼw kʼw, Kh kh, Khw khw, Khʼ khʼ, Khʼw khʼw (L l), Ł ł, Łʼ łʼ (M m), N n (O o), S s, Sʼ sʼ, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tl tl, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, W w, X x, Xw xw, Xʼ xʼ, Xʼw xʼw, Xh xh, Xhw xhw, Xhʼ xhʼ, Xhʼw xhʼw, Y y (Ÿ ÿ), ․
• US: (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, Aa aa, Áa áa, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dl dl, Dz dz, E e, É é, Ee ee, Ée ée, Ei ei, Éi éi, G g, Gw gw, G̱ g̱, G̱w g̱w, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, Kw kw, Kʼ kʼ, Kʼw kʼw, Ḵ ḵ, Ḵw ḵw, Ḵʼ ḵʼ, Ḵʼw ḵʼw, L l, Lʼ lʼ (Ḻ ḻ, M m), N n (O o), Oo oo, Óo óo, S s, Sʼ sʼ, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tl tl, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ú ú, W w, X x, Xw xw, Xʼ xʼ, Xʼw xʼw, X̱ x̱, X̱w x̱w, X̱ʼ x̱ʼ, X̱ʼw x̱ʼw, Y y (Ÿ ÿ, Y̱ y̱), ․

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

ei

1. not; expresses negation.

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

• Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “не, ни”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ‎^[8], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

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

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

ei

1. hey

• Hallap, V., Adler, E., Grünberg, S., Leppik, M. (2012) “ei”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat, 2nd edition, Tallinn

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”).

• ’i (after vowels)
• ’w (after i)

• (standard) IPA^(key): /ei̯/
  • (colloquial) IPA^(key): /iː/, /ɪ/
• Homophone: eu
• Rhymes: -ei̯

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.

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.

• 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.

• IPA^(key): /ei̯/

ei

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

• 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

Variant orthographies

ALIV	ei
Brazilian standard	ei
New Tribes	ei

• IPA^(key): [ej]

ei

1. (intransitive, agentive) to be

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.

ei

1. (transitive) to seek, to look for

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “a'ja, ei, ka, ma, na, öönene, wa, weneene”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[9], Lyon, pages 215–216, 238–239
• Hall, Katherine (2007) “wenēne”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎^[10], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
• Hall, Katherine (2007) “wenɲə”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎^[11], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021

• IPA^(key): /əi̯˧/

ei

1. we (exclusive)

• key

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