'Bury the umbilical cord' or 'Bury the placenta'?

A parent whose child is studying at primary school in Hanoi said that the 5th grade Vietnamese textbook used the idiom “Chôn rau cat nau” incorrectly and said that it should be “chôn nhau cat nau” instead.

Specifically, in the Vocabulary Practice section on the topic Expanding vocabulary: Fatherland on page 18 of the Vietnamese Textbook, Grade 5, Volume 1, there is question 4 with the requirement:

Make a sentence with one of the following words:

a) Homeland

b) Mother's hometown

c) Homeland

d) Place of birth

However, this parent thinks it should be "The place where the umbilical cord was buried", not "The place where the umbilical cord was buried".

Previously, a teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, when giving comments on this book, also said that the idiom "chôn rau cat umbilical" is wrong, the correct one should be "chôn nhau cat umbilical".

The content of the Vietnamese textbook for grade 5, part 1 makes parents worried. Photo: Thanh Hung.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kieu Hai, a journalist in Hanoi, commented: "Chon rau cat navel" is a very popular idiom, even used more than "chon nhau cat navel", because "rau" goes with "ron navel" which is easier to say and hear.

He said that this idiom is recorded and explained in many dictionaries, such as:

- Great Vietnamese Dictionary (Ministry of Education and Training and Center for Vietnamese Language and Culture), edited by Nguyen Nhu Y.

- Vietnamese Dictionary (Vietlex Lexicography Center), 2014 edition.

- Vietnamese idioms, by Nguyen Luc - Luong Van Dang, with the collaboration of Nguyen Dang Chau, Pham Van Thu, Bui Duy Tan, printed in 1978 and 2009. The 2009 version also added the reverse saying "cut the umbilical cord and bury the placenta".

The idiom "burying the umbilical cord" is explained in a dictionary.

Mr. Hai added: "I was afraid that in the South, we used to use "nhau" instead of "rau", so I tried to look it up again and found that "chồn rau cat um" also appeared in the book "Vietnamese Dictionary" compiled by Le Van Duc and a group of writers, edited by Le Ngoc Tru, first published in Saigon in 1970.

According to Mr. Hai, parents may have an emotional opinion; but teachers are negligent and do not have the habit of looking up the dictionary before giving feedback, which is "unscientific".

VietNamNet has contacted the Vietnam Education Publishing House to clarify this.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Education Publishing House, affirmed that this sentence is not wrong.

Mr. Tung explained that in Vietnamese, "rau" or "nhau" are two pronunciations (two phonetic variations) of the same word referring to the part that connects the fetus to the mother's uterine wall via the umbilical cord to provide nutrition, excrete waste, and exchange gases through the fetus's blood.

Mr. Tung cited: The Vietnamese Dictionary of the Institute of Linguistics (edited by Hoang Phe, Da Nang Publishing House and Lexicography Center, 2005) has both entries rau and nhau, but considers rau to be the pronunciation of the dialect (pp. 706, 822).

However, the book Physiological Anatomy, volume 2 of the Ministry of Health (Medical Publishing House, 1986) calls the above mentioned part the placenta: "The fetus develops due to the combined effects of the ovaries, the placenta and the anterior pituitary gland" (p. 93); "The placenta itself also secretes progesterone and estrogen" (p. 94).

The book Vietnamese Idioms by Hoang Van Hanh (Social Sciences Publishing House, 2015) accepts both the idioms Chôn rau cat nau and Chôn nhau cat nau.

And To Huu, a master poet in using folk language, wrote:

"Who comes to visit the swamps and seas of Dong Thap,

South Viet Bac, the grave of the French invaders

“The place where I was born and raised!” (To Huu Complete Works, Literature Publishing House, 2009, p. 224)

Thus, Mr. Tung affirmed that the idiom “where the umbilical cord is buried” provided in the Vietnamese 5 textbook is correct. “In localities where vegetables are commonly called “nhau”, teachers can explain to students and students can also use the term that is more familiar to them,” said Mr. Tung.

Sharing the same opinion, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Van Tinh (General Secretary of the Vietnam Linguistics Association) also said that "Chôn nhau cat nau" and "Chôn rau cat nau" are two variations, each place uses a different style and both can be used.

According to VNN