Used as the "to be" verb when specifying an object's location.
Can be used on people, animals, or chunky, boxy objects such as a house, a pot, or other thing that can sit upright. Compare to tewaa, the auxiliary verb used for nouns in a sitting position.
Think of how, in literary English, one can say an object such as a house "sits" atop a hill.
For all other objects that are flat, long, or non-physical, which cannot sit upright, you would use the word yaq (same meaning), similar to tuuyaq, the auxiliary verb for nouns in a lying position.
Note that Cuevas' pronunciation of "e" may sometimes sound like English "e" in "men", whereas to most other speakers it would be a more neutral shwa sound, close to Kumeyaay "a" or English "uh" as in "another".