Why ever [The role of ever]

hhttIn the sentence "why ever you are doing this",

That is not a natural English sentence.
"Ever" is only used in these combinations:
what( so)ever
who( so)ever
however
whenever

There is no combination of "why" + "ever" except perhaps in regional dialects, where it would be considered an adverb..

Could it be a British English usage?

Thank you.

Yes, it's a feature of British English.

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/whyever

It's usually spelled as one word.

Clive

hhttCould it be a British English usage?

I am familiar with British English, but not all of its nuances. I speak American English.

The graphs below paint a rather different picture. Perhaps they are unrepresentative.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=why+ever%3Aeng_gb_2012%

CliveYes, it's a feature of British English.http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/whyever It's usually spelled as one word.Clive

When whyever spelled as one word, is the "ever" used there still an adverb and if it is, how can I understand tha

hhttWhen whyever spelled as one word, is the "ever" used there still an adverb

When determining parts of speech, we do not dissect a word. The part of speech applies to a whole word, not a part of it.

"Ever" as a word by itself is an adverb.

Will he ever come again?

GPYThe graphs below paint a rather different picture. Perhaps they are unrepresentative.https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=why+ever%3Aeng_gb_2012%2Cwhyever%3Aeng_gb_2012%2C+w... I would point out, though, that the origin

hhttWhy the original is wrong by any standard when it is supposed to be complete sentece? Clive says that it is a feature of British English to write it as one word. Did you look at this link http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/whyever ?

Th

GPY.There are two separate issues.

It was suggested that "whyever / why ever" is a feature of BrE, and that it is normally written "whyever". The Google Ngrams results that I posted do not support either of those theories. In my experience, "why ever", two words, is common in BrE. That is not to say that "whyever" is wrong. I cannot speak for AmE usage.