Only in East Texas? More widespread?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>.... In any
>case, if the two people are near enough to each other that there is no
>need to shout, then, of course, the "hoot" response is not relevant. In
>the normal case, someone of high familial status, such as a parent,
>inside the house or outside of it calls to someone of equal or lower
>status, such as a husband or a child, who is outside the house in some
>unknown location that is very likely to be within earshot.

Thanks, now I understand better. I think I might use or expect "Yo" in such
a case, and I think this "Yo" is probably basically "Yes" altered for loud
utterance.

By analogy, one might speculate that "Hoo" is "Here" similarly altered ...
or it might be just an arbitrary interjection like "Ho" or "Hey", although
that wouldn't explain the visibility constraint.

-- Doug Wilson