kêu

See also: keu and ke'u

Khiamniungan Naga

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɛʊ⁵²/

Verb

kêu

  1. (Patsho) hunting birds; using birdlime in streams and flowering trees in order to hunt birds.

Middle Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *keːw (to call).

Verb

kêu

  1. to shout, to cry
    chuâng kêu
    the bell rings
  2. to call for someone to see or help you

Descendants

  • Vietnamese: kêu

References

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) kiu (with vowel raising)

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *keːw (to call), a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese (to call; to cry; to shout, SV: khiếu). Akin to Proto-Pearic *keːv.

Attested as kêu in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

Pronunciation

Verb

kêu • (, , , , 𡆌, , 󱋣)

  1. to cry (to shout, scream, yell; to utter animal sounds)
    chó sủa, mèo kêu
    dogs bark, cats cry
    Mày mà không bảo con chó của mày im là tao giết nó bây giờ ! Đêm hôm cứ kêu ăng ẳng nhức cả đầu !
    I'll kill your stupid dog if you won't shut it up! It's been howling and giving me headache this whole night!
    tiếng kêu
    a call or cry
  2. to call for someone to see or help you
    Synonym: bảo
    kêu người đến giúp
    to call for help
    Kêu nó lên đây tao bảo.
    Tell him to see me.
    Mày kêu tao hả ?
    Did you want to see me? / Were you looking for me?
  3. short for kêu ca (to whine)
    Cả hè không chịu làm, giờ bài dồn đống thì đừng có kêu.
    Stop whining. You didn't do a single exercise the whole summer, no wonder they've all piled up now.

Derived terms

Adjective

kêu

  1. uproarious
  2. (colloquial, of one's wording) intriguing
    Cách kể truyện này phải nói kêu ơi là kêu áThe way the plot is being delivered sounds very much intriguing!