Definition

1. Adjective / Adverb:

   • Slanting / Obliquely: Describes something positioned at an angle, not vertically or horizontally straight.
   • Leaning / Tilting: Indicates a slight incline or a position that is not fully upright.

2. Adverb (figurative usage):

   • Gradually declining / Waning: Often used poetically to describe the sun's position in the late afternoon, implying a gentle, sloping descent.

Usage Examples

• Adjective / Adverb:
  • Bóng cây tà tà in trên mặt đất. (The tree's shadow slants on the ground.)
  • Mặt trời đã tà tà về phía tây. (The sun was leaning/sinking toward the west.)

Advanced Usage

• Used almost exclusively in literary, poetic, or descriptive contexts to evoke a gentle, slow, and picturesque decline, especially of daylight.
  • Chiều tà tà, gió nhẹ thổi. (The afternoon waned, a gentle breeze blew.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tà (adj): Slanting, oblique. The root word from which "tà tà" is derived, often used in compounds.
  • Tà áo: the slanting hem of a traditional tunic.

Synonyms

• Slanting: At an angle; not straight.
• Declining: Moving to a lower level, especially the sun.
• Waning: Gradually decreasing, especially in intensity.

Related Idioms

• Bóng tà tà: The slanting shadow (often of the late afternoon sun).
  • Ngồi dưới bóng tà tà của cây đa. (Sitting under the slanting shadow of the banyan tree.)