aiyo
English edit
Etymology edit
Mainly borrowed from Tamil ஐயோ (aiyō) and Sinhalese අයියෝ (ayiyō).[1] Common in Dravidian languages; compare Telugu అయ్యో (ayyō), Kannada ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō), Malayalam അയ്യോ (ayyō), Tulu ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō). Alternatively from Chinese 哎喲／哎哟 (āiyō) in Malaysia and Singapore.
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
aiyo
- (South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, informal) expressing distress, regret, fear
- 1886, Chamber's Journal. 20 Mar. 184/1:
- 'Are you crying for your father?' 'Aiyo, aiyo!' wailed the girl. 'I shall never see him again!'
- 1913, L. Woolf, Village in Jungle ii. 28:
- Aiyo! aiyo! My little Podi Sinho!
- 1971, Fashion Panaroma (Ceylon) Apr. 31:
- 'Aiyo its our Kalu' they all cried.
- 1982, R.K. Narayan, Tiger for Malgudi (1984) 119:
- Aiyo! Never thought our beloved principal will come to this end.
- 2009, S. Manickavasagam, Power of Passion 218:
- Vijaya touched Rajam's forehead and exclaimed, Aiyo. She is running very high temperature.
References edit
- ^ “aiyo, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “aiyo, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams edit
Ye'kwana edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
aiyo
- (transitive) to break
Derived terms edit
References edit
- Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “aiyo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon