, or or ( fem.), is a

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

used in a number of

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

, like

Hindi/Urdu Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the lan ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. It forms an adjectival compound from a noun or an

agent noun In linguistics, an agent noun (in Latin, ) is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, "driver" is an agent noun formed from the verb "drive". Usually, ''derive ...

from a verb. For example, it may indicate a person involved in some kind of activity, where they come from or what they wear (), for instance: * ''

Dabbawala The dabbawalas (also spelled dabbawallas or dabbawallahs, called tiffin wallahs in older sources) constitute a lunchbox delivery and return system that delivers hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work in India, especially in Mu ...

'', lunch box deliverer * ''

Chaiwala A ''chaiwala'' (also spelled as ''chaiwalah'' or ''chaiwallah'';, hi, चायवाला) is a tea-seller in the Indian subcontinent. They are an integral part of subcontinent culture. ''Chai'' is the Urdu word for "tea", as in masala chai ...

'', a boy or young man who serves tea * ''

Dishwalla Dishwalla is an American alternative rock band from Santa Barbara, California. The band's name comes from a Hindi term for a person providing satellite TV to a neighborhood (" dish" + walla). In a '' Vox'' interview, lead guitarist Rodney Brown ...

'', satellite TV installer, from "dish" for

parabolic antenna A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or pa ...

* , a

rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

driver * ''

Punkawallah A punkah, also pankha (, Hindi: , ), is a type of fan used since the early 6th century BC. The word ''pankha'' originated from'' pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped. In its original sense in South Asia, ''pankah' ...

'', the servant who keeps the ''

punkah A punkah, also pankha (, Hindi: , ), is a type of fan used since the early 6th century BC. The word ''pankha'' originated from'' pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a draft when flapped. In its original sense in South Asia, ''pankah' ...

'' or fan going on hot nights * , a cotton carder * , a

waste picker A waste picker is a person who salvages reusable or recyclable materials thrown away by others to sell or for personal consumption. There are millions of waste pickers worldwide, predominantly in developing countries, but increasingly in post-in ...

scrap dealer Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

* Puncture or puncher , a tyre repairer or was also used in

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

and Dawodi Bohra surnames, suggesting the profession or a place name. For example: * Amroliwala * Daruwalla, seller of or Persian for 'wine' * Mithaiwala, sweetseller is also used to indicate a specific object or thing among several: * , 'the small one' * , 'the second one' * , 'the next one' In British military jargon of the first half of the 20th century, a "base wallah" is someone employed at a military base, or with a job far behind the front lines.Edward Fraser and John Gibbons (1925). Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases. Routledge, London, p.18. Ian McDonald has a short story, "Sanjeev and Robotwallah" (2007), and there is a character named General Robotwallah in the 2010 novel ''

For the Win ''For the Win'' is the second young adult science fiction novel by Canadian author Cory Doctorow. It was released in May 2010. The novel is available free on the author's website as a Creative Commons download, and is also published in trad ...

'' by

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

References

{{reflist Suffixes Hindi words and phrases Hindustani language Bengali words and phrases