“School year” and “School year”

“I am one of those who persistently speak up to contribute to preserving the purity of the Vietnamese language, but I have also been helpless and frustrated many times by the conservatism, stubbornness and... cowardice of some people who see mistakes but do not dare to correct them. Today I encountered such a case.

My child's parents prepared a small gift, a water bottle, for their children on graduation day.

The design, color and engraving on the vase were agreed upon by the homeroom teacher and the children. However, when the class's parents' representative board posted the image on the class's zalo parent group, I discovered that the words "School year 2022-2025" were not correct. School year is a word used to refer to a school year, so no school year lasts 3 years. Here, the word "Khoa" should be used correctly.

However, despite my suggestion, the Head of the Parents' Committee still decided to keep the word "School Year" because these words were created by the Teacher, and if the comments were different, it would not be good(?)

[...]

I am sure that the Teacher did not notice these words, and removing the word "Nien" would not offend the Teacher or make him think about anything. He would even be happier because the gift was carefully prepared by the parents.

The story makes me not only sad for the Vietnamese language...[...]”.

Please let us know, is the analysis of the two words "school year" by the above parent correct or incorrect?

Thank you very much".

Answer: Actually, the problem is not as simple as the parent above thinks.

“Niên khoa” 年課 is a Vietnamese word of Chinese origin, which has nothing to do with studying or schools, but means taxes collected in a year. The word “khoa” 課 here means tax, tax collection (for example, diễm khoa = salt tax; thua khoa 稅課 = taxes in general).

The word "khoa" 課 in the word "taxa" also means teaching, studying. Therefore, in Chinese, "tiet khoa" means "study period". In Vietnamese, the word "khoa" 課 is used with 2 meanings (quoted from the Vietnamese Dictionary - Hoang Phe - Vietlex): "1- the time set for a working term", for example "being chairman for two consecutive terms"; "2- the time set for completing a general training and learning program", for example "completing a training course ~ two people studying in the same course".

Regarding the word “school year”, the dictionary explanation is not consistent. For example:

- Vietnamese dictionary (Le Van Duc) explains "school year" as "yearly calculation" and gives the example "Study according to the school year; budget belongs to the school year 1966-1967".

- Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoang Phe, editor-in-chief - Institute of Languages) explains "nien luong" as "school year", synonymous with "school year".

- The Vietnamese dictionary (edited by Van Tan) explains "school year" as "the time to complete a grade" and gives the example "the school year starts in September and ends in June of the following year".

However, the Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoang Phe, editor-in-chief - Version with Chinese characters for Sino-Vietnamese words by Vietlex Lexicography Center) explains “niên khoa • 年課” as “course, calculated from the starting year to the ending year”, and takes the example “students of the 2020-2023 school year”. Accordingly, the words “Niên khoa 2022-2025” engraved on the above souvenir vase are not incorrect.

So how do we calculate the parent's reasoning that "School year is a word used to refer to a school year, so no school year lasts 3 years. Here, the word "course" must be used correctly?" In fact, the word "year" here does not necessarily have to be understood as within a year. For example, "school year" is the prescribed period of time calculated in years for a job, a right or an obligation, then "school year" can be understood as a course calculated from the starting year to the ending year (including many years).

As mentioned above, the word “niên khoa” originally from Chinese means the tax collected in a year. To refer to the school year, Chinese uses the word học niên 學年. The word “hược niên” has also been used in Vietnamese with the same meaning in Chinese, and is recorded in many Vietnamese dictionaries, such as the Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoi Khai Tri Tien Duc) which explains học niên as “school year” and gives the example “School year has ten months” (the two words “niên học” come from the word “niên học”).

Thus, in reality, the word “school year” is used with two meanings: 1. referring to a school year; 2. referring to a course. The Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoang Phe editor-in-chief – Vietlex version) only records “school year” with the meaning of a course calculated from the starting year to the ending year.

In fact, although “school year” is used with two meanings, it usually does not cause misunderstandings, because it is associated with the number of years behind. For example, to indicate a school year, people will write School year 2024-2025; and to indicate a multi-year course, there will also be a number line, for example “School year 2020-2023” as illustrated by the Vietnamese Dictionary (Hoang Phe-Vietlex). However, in our opinion, if we are referring to the time spent studying at school, from the opening day until summer break, enough to finish a class, we should use the word “school year”; and to indicate the time set for completing a general study or training program, we should use the words “course”, “course”, or “school year”, etc.

Man Nong (CTV)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nien-khoa-va-nbsp-nam-hoc-251527.htm