Where does “உதவா” come from?

உதவா (Tamil) comes from Tamil -ஆ, from Tamil -மை, from Old Tamil -𑀫𑁃, from Proto-Dravidian *-may — abstract noun formative.

Ancestry of “உதவா”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Tamil-ஆah — interrogative suffix
2Tamil-மைness, -ity added to nouns, adjectives or verbs to produce abstract nouns
3Old Tamil-𑀫𑁃forms abstract nouns
4Proto-Dravidian*-mayabstract noun formative
Every word from Proto-Dravidian *-may →Every word from Tamil -மை →Every word from Old Tamil -𑀫𑁃 →