Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

aiyo

/aɪˈjoʊ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.54 in modern English

Syllables: aiyo
IPA: /aɪˈjoʊ/

7

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

intj

Expressing distress, regret, or fear.

Indian usage; Informal

Example Sentences

"'Are you crying for your father?' 'Aiyo, aiyo!' wailed the girl. 'I shall never see him again!'"
"Aiyo! aiyo! My little Podi Sinho!"
"'Aiyo its our Kalu' they all cried."
"Aiyo! Never thought our beloved principal will come to this end."
"Aiyow! I don't know how I got the compulsion to say all that. But I really did."
"Vijaya touched Rajam's forehead and exclaimed, Aiyo. She is running very high temperature."

Etymology

Mainly borrowed from Tamil ஐயோ (aiyō) and Sinhalese අයියෝ (ayiyō). Common in Dravidian languages; compare Telugu అయ్యో (ayyō), Kannada ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō), Malayalam അയ്യോ (ayyō), Tulu ಅಯ್ಯೋ (ayyō), Kurux अयो (ayo). Alternatively from Chinese 哎喲 /哎哟 (āiyō) in Malaysia and Singapore.

Origin

Source language: Chinese

Word Breakdown

Root: ஐயோ, අයියෝ, 哎喲

Usage

Inflected Forms

ayyo (alternative) aiyoh (alternative)

Questions

How do you pronounce aiyo?: The recorded pronunciation is /aɪˈjoʊ/.
What does aiyo mean?: Expressing distress, regret, or fear.
Where does aiyo come from?: It is traced to Chinese.

How to pronounce aiyo

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “aiyo”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/aɪˈjoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “aiyo”.
Repeat and practice — Say “aiyo” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.