The story
- Hokkien · derived from阿“stereotyping prefix”
- Tamil · derived fromஅண்ணன்“elder brother”
- English todayah neh
Semantic extension from Tamil அண்ணன் (aṇṇaṉ, “elder brother”), reanalysed as a term prefixed by Hokkien 阿 (a, “stereotyping prefix”). Compare Ah Beng, Ah Lian, Ah Long, etc.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.