It comes from the phrase ta épita ‘after, then’ which was formed analogical to the time expressions ta fetos ‘this year’, ta xtes ‘yesterday’ (Kretschmer 1905, Ralli personal communication).
E.g. téʎusi t δʎá s, tapé páni stu-gafiné.
téʎose ti δuʎá su, tapé píʝene ston-kafené
‘Finish your job, then go to the café’.
Tapé tí na-du-gánu? Afú én akú(ʝ) kanénan.
Tapé tí na ton káno? Afú den akúi kanénan.
‘Besides, what should I do with him? He does not listen to anyone’.