Definition

1. Adverb:
   • Unsteadily, quiveringly: Describes a light, swaying, or trembling motion, often due to a gentle force like wind. It conveys a sense of something hanging low and moving softly from side to side.
   • In a dazed, staggering manner: Describes the unsteady, swaying movement of someone who is intoxicated or dizzy.

Usage Examples

• Adverb (Swaying motion):

  • Sương mù la đà trên mặt sông. (The mist hangs low and quivers over the river surface.)
  • Gió đưa cành trúc la đà. (The wind makes the bamboo branches sway unsteadily.)

• Adverb (Staggering from intoxication):

  • Anh ấy say rượu, bước đi la đà. (He was drunk, walking unsteadily.)
  • Cà cuống uống rượu la đà. (The water bug drinks until it staggers.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "la đà" often carries a poetic or descriptive quality, frequently used in literature and folk poetry (ca dao) to paint a vivid image of gentle, melancholic movement.

Variants and Related Words

• Lảo đảo (adv/adj): To stagger, to totter. This is a more common synonym for the unsteady walking aspect of "la đà".
  • Người bị thương đi lảo đảo. (The injured person walked staggeringly.)

Synonyms

• Swayingly: Moving slowly and rhythmically from side to side.
• Quiveringly: Shaking with a slight, rapid motion.
• Staggeringly: Walking or moving unsteadily, as if about to fall.

Related Idioms

• While "la đà" itself is often used in set poetic phrases, it is a key component in classic Vietnamese folk verses, such as , which evokes a timeless image of gentle, whispering movement.

adv. unsteadily, quiveringly