aiyo

English

Etymology

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
  • IPA(key): /aɪˈjoʊ/

Interjection

aiyo

  1. (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
  1. “aiyo, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “aiyo, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ajjo]

Verb

aiyo

  1. (transitive) to break

Derived terms

References
  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “aiyo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon
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