Definition

1. Verb:
   • To hand down orally, to transmit by oral tradition: "khẩu truyền" refers to the act of passing information, stories, knowledge, or customs from one generation to the next through spoken word rather than written records.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Những câu chuyện cổ tích thường được khẩu truyền qua nhiều thế hệ. (Fairy tales are often handed down orally through many generations.)
  • Phong tục này được khẩu truyền từ đời ông bà đến đời cháu chắt. (This custom has been transmitted by oral tradition from the grandparents' generation to the great-grandchildren's generation.)

Advanced Usage

• "truyền khẩu": This is a variant word order with the same meaning. It is also commonly used.
  • Văn học dân gian tồn tại chủ yếu dưới hình thức truyền khẩu. (Folk literature exists mainly in oral tradition form.)

Variants and Related Words

• Truyền miệng (verb): To spread by word of mouth. This is a very close synonym, often used for rumors or news.
  • Tin đồn đó được truyền miệng rất nhanh. (That rumor spread by word of mouth very quickly.)
• Truyền thuyết (noun): Legend; a story from the past, often involving heroic figures, that is popularly believed to be true and is transmitted orally.
• Văn học truyền miệng / truyền khẩu (noun phrase): Oral literature.

Synonyms

• Truyền lại bằng lời nói: To pass down by spoken word.
• Lưu truyền bằng miệng: To circulate by mouth.

Related Idioms

• "Miệng truyền tai nọ, tai truyền miệng kia": A saying describing how information spreads from one person to another by word of mouth, often emphasizing the potential for distortion.
  • Chuyện đó cứ miệng truyền tai nọ, tai truyền miệng kia nên không còn đúng sự thật. (That story has been passed from mouth to ear so much that it's no longer the truth.)

1. Hand down orally, transmit by oral tradition