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It's pronounced "vee-eye".
6.2.2. Basic commands
6.2.2.1. Moving through the text
Moving through the text is usually possible with the arrow keys. If not, try:
• h to move the cursor to the left
• l to move it to the right
• k to move up
• j to move down
SHIFT-G will put the prompt at the end of the document.
6.2.2.2. Basic operations
These are some popular vi commands:
• n dd will delete n lines starting from the current cursor position.
• n dw will delete n words at the right side of the cursor.
• x will delete the character on which the cursor is positioned
• :n moves to line n of the file.
• :w will save (write) the file
• :q will exit the editor.
• :q! forces the exit when you want to quit a file containing unsaved changes.
• :wq will save and exit
• :w newfile will save the text to newfile.
• :wq! overrides read-only permission (if you have the permission to override permissions, for instance when you are using the root account.
• /astring will search the string in the file and position the cursor on the first match below its position.
• / will perform the same search again, moving the cursor to the next match.
• :1, $s/word/anotherword/g will replace word with anotherword throughout the file.
• yy will copy a block of text.
• n p will paste it n times.
• :recover will recover a file after an unexpected interruption.
6.2.2.3. Commands that switch the editor to insert mode
• a will append: it moves the cursor one position to the right before switching to insert mode
• i will insert
• o will insert a blank line under the current cursor position and move the cursor to that line.