Wow, flashback. Very prevalent around me in 60’s/70’s and only in Maine. Also assumed Fr/Can from va . Older me saw Oi Vey connection, which doesn’t make much sense for Maine. So I just looked up the German equivalent for the Yiddish word. And… Germans use O weh (which is of Dutch origin) and means “Ouch!” Which…. is exactly what I often heard in France. Ai is for sharp pain, A-wah for anything irritating. The Dutch Weh word lives on in English: a half-century ago in Maine when my big sister told me ”Ah-Vah!” she was actually saying ”Woe is You!”