ời ời

Thằng bé gọi cha ời ời từ cánh đồng.

Definition

1. Interjection:
   • A distant or prolonged call: Used to shout or call out to someone who is far away, often by repeating the word to carry the voice over a distance. It expresses a loud, drawn-out vocal effort to attract attention.

Usage Examples

• Interjection:
  • "Thằng Cuội ngồi gốc cây đa, Bỏ trâu ăn lúa gọi cha ời ời." (The boy Cuội sits under the banyan tree, Letting the buffalo eat rice while calling for his father, "ời ời".)
  • Người chèo thuyền hướng về phía làng và gọi to "ời ời" để báo hiệu. (The boatman turned toward the village and shouted "ời ời" to signal.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in folk poetry, proverbs, and contexts depicting rural or traditional settings to evoke a sense of distance and earnest calling.

Variants and Related Words

• Ơi (interjection): A common particle used to call or address someone directly (e.g., meaning "Mother!").
• Vời (verb, literary): To call from afar, to summon.

Synonyms

• Halloo: To shout to attract attention, especially from a distance.
• Yoo-hoo: A call used to attract someone's attention.
• Holler: To shout loudly.

Related Idioms

• While "ời ời" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it is emblematic of the poetic structure found in Vietnamese folk sayings and ca dao (folk poems) that depict scenes of calling across fields or rivers.