Definition

1. Verb (archaic):
   • To inform respectfully; to report with deference: "cẩn cáo" describes the formal and respectful act of informing or reporting to a superior or someone of higher status, often in an official or ceremonial context.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Thần tôi xin cẩn cáo với bệ hạ về tình hình biên ải. (Your servant respectfully reports to Your Majesty about the border situation.)
  • Sau khi điều tra, viên quan đã cẩn cáo lên triều đình. (After the investigation, the mandarin respectfully reported to the royal court.)

Advanced Usage

• "cẩn cáo" in Classical Texts: This term is almost exclusively found in historical, literary, or formal documents from pre-modern Vietnam, reflecting the hierarchical social structure and formal communication protocols of the past.
  • Trong văn bản cổ, các bậc bề tôi thường dùng từ "cẩn cáo" khi tấu trình lên vua. (In ancient texts, court officials often used the word "cẩn cáo" when presenting memorials to the king.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cẩn (adj): careful, prudent, respectful. This root conveys a sense of caution and respect.
• Cáo (v): to tell, to announce, to report. This root conveys the act of informing.
• Báo cáo (v): to report (modern, general term). This is the contemporary, standard word for "to report," without the specific archaic and deferential nuance of "cẩn cáo."
• Tấu trình (v): to present a memorial/report (to a king). This is another historical term for formal reporting to the monarch.

Synonyms

• Kính báo: to inform respectfully (also formal, but can be used in modern very formal letters).
• Trình báo: to report (formal, but less archaic than "cẩn cáo").

Notes on Usage

• Register: This is a highly formal, literary, and archaic term. It is not used in everyday modern Vietnamese conversation or writing.
• Context: Its use is appropriate only when discussing historical events, translating classical literature, or deliberately invoking an ancient formal style. The modern equivalent for most contexts is "báo cáo".
• Structure: The word is a compound of two Sino-Vietnamese elements ("cẩn" + "cáo"), typical of formal vocabulary from the classical lexicon.

1. (từ cũ) Inform respectfully