Is it correct to say that loanwords are not necessarily simple words?

Geographical and Cultural Features of Naming Place Names in China

Text/Ling Dexiang

First, the characteristics o

Is it correct to say that loanwords are not necessarily simple words?

Geographical and Cultural Features of Naming Place Names in China

Text/Ling Dexiang

First, the characteristics of China placename words

One of the biggest characteristics of word formation in ancient Chinese is monosyllabic word formation, that is, word formation is mainly one word, and multi-syllable simple words are mostly foreign words. Modern Chinese vocabulary is disyllabic, that is, vocabulary is mainly composed of two words. Trisyllabic words, especially simple words with three or more syllables, are mostly foreign words. The above characteristics of Chinese vocabulary composition are also fully reflected in the naming of ancient and modern place names, mainly as follows:

1. Monosyllabic words are the main components of ancient place names. At the earliest, most of the place names in China were composed of simple words, among which the place names composed of monosyllabic words were mostly Chinese words, and the polysyllabic simple words (two or more words) were mostly foreign words. In ancient times, the country name was mostly one word, and later it was called by the general name of country, county, state and city. Most of the abbreviations of modern place names come from ancient Chinese. About the pre-Qin period, Chinese place names gradually became disyllabic, and some early single-word place names gradually became the main word-formation components of place names and became common names with general significance. There are mainly "respect", "general" and "harmony".

2. Word order of ancient place name compounds. The place names after the pre-Qin period are mainly two-character compound words, and the place names of three or more simple words are mostly foreign words. In modern Chinese, place names or word-formation stems are mostly composed of two words or two words plus "province", "city", "county" and "village", and place names with more than four words are mostly foreign words. In ancient times, the place names composed of two-character compound words were mostly place names with common names such as "country", "county" and "city". In ancient times, the word order of Chinese characters was mostly a modifier before the head word, which was quite different from that of later generations. The place names of compound words are mainly arranged in the word order of "big names and small names", such as: Qiushang, Qiuhuang, Qiucun, Yu Qiu, Chengfu, Elevation, Chengdi, Chengqi, Cheng Ying, Bi Cheng, Chengpu, Liu Shui, Tu Tu, Liu Shui, Tu Tu and Hezhang. However, in modern Chinese, the place names of compound words are mostly the word order of "small names are crowned with big names", such as "Qiushang" and "Hezhang" in the above example, which are modern "Shangqiu" and "Zhanghe". In ancient Chinese, the word order feature of "modifier comes before the head word, then after the head word" is still preserved in modern dialects. For example, the word "Jigongshan" in the southern dialect is actually a rooster, and a place name was originally "Jigongshan", which is named after it looks like a rooster. In the later period, because I didn't understand its meaning, it was changed to "Jiguan Mountain". Another example is the place name "City Father" in Huaibei, Anhui Province, which is said to have been built by Xiang Yu. Later generations often misunderstand the meaning of "city father" according to modern word order, but it is far from the actual meaning. The "city father" should be the "father city" in today's sense, which may have been built by Xiang Yu to miss his father and relatives in his hometown.

(Image from the Internet)

Second, the main forms of loanwords in ancient and modern place names

Today's Han people are not the Han people of the past, and today's China people are not the people of China. Since ancient times, there have been many nationalities living in the Central Plains, and their languages have also merged and influenced each other. Most of the place names formed by ancient loanwords have gradually become "Chinese characters", and now it is difficult to see their foreign characteristics. On the one hand, the transliteration names of loanwords in ancient Chinese are mostly Chinese transliteration. Due to the long history, it is difficult to see the characteristics of foreign words in many place names transliterated with Chinese characters, especially semi-transliterated and semi-paraphrased foreign words. Mainly such as: "Faku" (Liaoning Province), originated from Manchu; Jurong (Jiangsu) originated from ancient Vietnamese. On the other hand, many early transliterated place names have gradually changed into free translation, complete free translation or semi-free translation with Chinese free translation elements. Examples are as follows:

1. Phonetic and semantic translation forms. "Kangbao" (Hebei Province) is a transliteration of Mongolian "Kangbanol"; Baotou (Inner Mongolia) is a transliteration of Mongolian Chinese character Baoketu. There are also some transliteration words of place names that have been directly changed into Chinese free translation words, such as Hengxian (Nalang), Yaxian (Namen), Ledong (Dulong) in Guangxi and Baoting (Danan and Shinan offices) in Hainan Province.

2. Free translation form. "Hu Shuo (Heshuo)" is a Mongolian transliteration, originally meaning a flag. As an administrative division, it is now translated as "flag".

3. Tibetan transliteration in the form of semi-transliteration and semi-free translation means "Jiang, a larger river", such as "Yarlung Zangbo River", and the Chinese translation is changed to "Jiang" and translated into "Yarlung Zangbo River"; Cuo, transliterated in Tibetan, means "Lake", Namco means "Tianhu", and Chinese translation is "Namco Lake"; "Acheng" (Heilongjiang Province), the place name "A" originated from the ancient Jurchen language.

Third, the main naming characteristics of Chinese rivers

The distribution of river names in China has obvious regional characteristics of "North Henan River". Most northern regions are named after "river", while most southern regions are named after "river". The area between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River is usually called "water" or "river".

In Shang Dynasty, Jiang and He were mainly regarded as "big rivers", especially the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. "Water" and "Sichuan" are general terms for rivers.

The areas named after "water" and "Sichuan" are mainly distributed in the ancient Central Plains cultural circle. Both of them are pictographs of rivers, and their etymology should be the same, which may be the differentiation caused by the different pronunciations of different dialects in North and South at that time. After the rise of civilization and the Yangtze River civilization, the naming functions of "water" and "Sichuan" weakened and were gradually replaced by "river". "River" has gradually changed from the earliest specific reference to "Yellow River" to a general reference, which is mainly used to refer to the northern rivers centered on the Yellow River Basin. "Jiang" was originally named for the "Yangtze River" and was also used to name the southern rivers centered on the Yangtze River basin.

Now the names of rivers in China still retain these traces. Most rivers north of Huaihe River in China are named after "He". For example, the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Hutuo River. There are also rivers named after the river in the south, such as Wanquan River in Hainan, which may reflect the great influence of northern civilization represented by the Yellow River culture in the history of this region. Most rivers south of the Yangtze River are named after Jiang, such as Pearl River, Huangpu River and Lancang River. There are "Heilongjiang", "Songhua River" and "Yalu River" in the northeast, which are developed relatively late. The rivers in this area are named after "Jiang", which may reflect that the area was greatly influenced by the southern civilization represented by the Yangtze River culture at the beginning of development.

(Image from the Internet)

The names of rivers named after "water" and "Sichuan" are relatively old, and they are mainly distributed in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi. The existing rivers named after "water" and "river" are mainly the water flowing into "river" and are classified as tributaries of "river". Rivers named after "water" are relatively well preserved, mostly at the junction of Shaanxi, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong provinces.

Rivers named after "Sichuan" are mostly distributed in the central and western regions and Sichuan, Hubei and other places in the southwest. As a general term for rivers, "Chuan" should be very old. The idiom "Flowing continuously" and the word "Chuan" in The Analects of Confucius both refer to "River", which proves that at least in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, "Chuan" was still widely used as a general term for rivers. China and Tang Wenhua have the greatest influence on Japan, and the rivers in Japan are still named after "Chuan", which proves from another side that "Chuan" was commonly used as the general name of rivers in ancient times.

Rivers (tributaries) in mountainous areas such as Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian. Many others are named after "Xi". According to its pronunciation research, the vowels with "Jiang" and "He" are very pronounced. Compared with loud voice, "Xi" has a small vowel opening and a small voice, and its original meaning should refer to "small water flow".

Fourthly, the regional cultural characteristics of place names in China.

Most of the place names in modern Chinese come from ancient times. There are many similarities between ancient and modern place names, and the naming methods of place names also have certain origins. China has a long history, a vast territory, different customs and geographical diversity, which is bound to be reflected in the naming of place names. The naming of modern place names in China mainly has the following ways and characteristics:

1. Named after geographical features. (1) is named directly according to the geographical features. Mainly include: Heilongjiang, Dahenggou, Qingyatou, Shiyazi, Yaozimen, Zhongchakou, Lingdi, Potou, Sha 'ao, Hongtupo, Dianchi Lake, Hongyadi, Xiangbishan and so on. (2) Geographical and geomorphological names are the word-formation components of place names. Mainly includes: ditch, beam, valley, mausoleum, hill, hill, township, pavilion, collection, dock, wall, barrier, fortress, town, shop, collection, city, field, service, level, level, gate, dock, alkali and gate.

In addition, different historical periods also reflect the different characteristics of place names. In the pre-Qin period, the North China Plain, as the political and cultural center, was characterized by hilly terrain, and most of the place names in this period were named after "Qiu", "Ling" and "Fu". Since then, "hills" have gradually disappeared from the naming of place names due to the geographical and geomorphological changes caused by the siltation of rivers such as the Yellow River. In the Han dynasty, there were many names of places where people gathered, such as "township", "pavilion" and "gathering", which showed the local administrative system at that time. During the Six Dynasties, due to the large land ownership of the Hao nationality and the need to defend against social unrest, the names of places mostly used the words "dock", "wall", "garrison" and "fort". After the middle Tang Dynasty, due to the rise of urban commerce, the names of "town", "city" and "city" characterized by fairs increased. The original meaning of "Zhou" is "an island (or sandbar) in the river and land in the water". Shuowen Jiezi: "Zhou, you can live in the water of Yuezhou. Go around. From Chongchuan. Yao was flooded that year, and the cement and soil in the community were high. Or Kyushu Island. " But until the Qin and Han dynasties, the scope of "country" was still quite uncertain. It was not until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty that "Zhou" began to become an administrative division at or above the county level. Later, "state" has always been regarded as the concept of administrative division. In order to distinguish it, people once used "state" instead of the original "land in the water". At present, when naming cities in China, except Zhuzhou and Manzhouli, all other cities use "Zhou".

(Image from the Internet)

2. Named after the family, ethnic group or person's surname. The patriarchal clan system linked by blood relationship is the social foundation of China traditional culture. Therefore, villages or cities named after surnames or ethnic surnames are the most common place names in China. In patriarchal society, people often live in the community according to their surnames, and surnames are the main basis for naming place names. Its naming methods mainly include: name plus geography or village (township, county) name or administrative division name. For example, "Qixian County" was named after Qi, a doctor of the State of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period. "Jishan" (county seat), according to legend, Hou Ji once taught people to cultivate crops on the mountain south of the county seat, and later called this mountain "Wangji Mountain", which was named "Jishan" because of the mountain; In modern times, there were "Zuoquan County" and "Zhidan County" named after revolutionary heroes Zuo Quan and Liu Zhidan.

3. Examples of naming animals and plants are: Apple Orchard, Zaolingou, Yulin 'nao, Madigou, Yanglinyao, Xiangcaoping, Cypress, Luyagou, Toona sinensis, Tanshangou, Apricot Slope, Oil Road Valley, Maxiang, Xiong Ping, Heshan, Maopu, Baochuan, Yangquan, Aotou and Camel Road.

4. Names originated from fairy tales are named after historical humanities: Shenquan, Stone Buddha, Pu Xian, Siping, Zen Temple, Buddhist Temple, Kannonji, Luohantang, Jiangxiangping, Lion God, Old Stone God, Jade Girl Mountain, Wang Fu Cliff, etc. Those originated from historical figures or events are Wenxi (county), located in the southwest of Shaanxi Province, formerly known as Zuo Yi County. Because in the sixth year of Ding Yuan in the Western Han Dynasty (1 1 1), Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, heard the good news that the loyalist had defeated Nanyue (now Guangdong) and changed this county to Wenxi; "Lingshi" (county) was named after the ancient meteorite discovered by Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty when he dug a river for ten years.

5. Named after bearing and other categories. The place names of locative words as word-formation components are: Beipo, Beishe, Beilou, Beigou and Beiyawan; Dongzhai, Dongnao, Dongping, Dongyuan, Dongpo and Dongshan; Nancun, Nangou, Nanhe, Nanling, Nanshe, Nanliu, Nanyu, Nanzui and Nanbeizi; Xicun, Xishe, Xiwan, Xiyu, Xizhang, Xipo, Xinao and Xishantou; Zhonglan, Zhongzhuang, Zhongshe, Zhongxing Road, Central Beam, etc. In ancient China, Shan Zhinan was called "Yang" because it could shine on the sun, and the north of the mountain was called "Yin". The sun can shine on the north of the water (river), so it is sunny in the north and cloudy in the south. That is, "the water in the south of Shannan is Yang in the north and the water in the south of Shannan is Yin". "Yin" and "Yang" are also commonly used word-formation components in place names. Such as Luoyang, Jiangyin, Yangshan and Huayin. However, there are a few exceptions, such as "Hanyang" in Hubei, which was named after being located in the north of Hanshui River in history. Later, due to the diversion of Hanshui River, it was changed from the south of Hanyang to the north of Hanyang, and the name of the city remained unchanged, forming a special case.

Five, the main forms of historical evolution of geographical names in China.

1. Combination naming of place names. Due to historical changes, the place names of China have been changed many times. At present, only "Handan" may be used as a place name in China for three thousand years, which is a special case. "Handan is named after the Lushan Mountain, which first appeared in the ancient version of the bamboo annals. The merged place name mainly refers to the new place name formed by the merger of two place names in the institutional change. For example, Linyi (county) in Shanxi was named after the merger of Linjin and Linyi in 1954; Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia is named after the merger of Uda City and Haibowan City. Zibo, Shandong Province, was called Zichuan County and Boshan County in ancient times. Anhui dongzhi county is also called East Flow and Virtue. " "Panjin" in Liaoning Province consists of "Panshan" and "Jinxian".

2. Abbreviations of place names. Because there are many place names in China, which are long and difficult to read and write, there are more and more homophones. In order to be easy to remember and distinguish, there are abbreviated place names unique to China. Among them, the 34 provincial administrative regions in China are abbreviated as: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Jin, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Kyrgyzstan, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Qiong, Chongqing, Sichuan or Shu, Guizhou or Guizhou, Yunnan or Yunnan and Tibet. Some large and medium-sized cities also have their own abbreviations, such as: Ning (Nanjing), Sui (Guangzhou), Fei (Hefei), Rong (Fuzhou), Rong (Chengdu), Bing (Taiyuan), Bian (Kaifeng), Yong (Ningbo) and Xun (Jiujiang).

3. The naming changes of city place names Since ancient times, China city place names have gradually formed a system named after counties, states and cities, which can basically show the scale and grade of each city. Until the reform and opening up, cities in Chinese mainland were basically named after cities, states (regions) and counties according to their size or grades. After the reform and opening up, especially after the 1990s, the naming of cities has been gradually upgraded. The naming of "city" is particularly rampant. Many cities originally named after counties, states or cities have also been changed to cities, or directly added to their original names. Such as "Xuanzhou City" was originally "Xuanzhou"; Suzhou was originally Suxian County. At present, the national "city" can be divided into at least six levels: provincial, sub-provincial, quasi-sub-provincial, main hall level, deputy hall level and hall level. Mainly as follows:

(1) "province" municipality directly under the central government. There are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing.

(2) The so-called "cities with separate plans" at the sub-provincial level. Mainly: Northeast China: Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin; East China: Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Jinan and Qingdao; Central China: Wuhan; South China: Guangzhou, Shenzhen; Southwest China: Chengdu; Northwest China: Xi 'an.

(3) Quasi-sub-provincial "city". In addition to all other provincial capital cities listed in the above-mentioned national plan, there are also "big cities" approved by the State Council, which are generally "quasi-sub-provincial" cities. Mainly: Tangshan, Datong, Baotou, Anshan, Jilin, Qiqihar, Wuxi, Huainan and Luoyang. There are also quite a few cities where officials at or above the "deputy provincial level" or the Standing Committee of the Party Committee have served as party secretaries for a long time, and "cities" actually enjoy the "treatment" of deputy provincial cities. Mainly such as: Suzhou, Yanbian, Yantai, Wuhu, Wenzhou, Zhuhai, Sanya, Guilin, Yichang, Yan 'an and Golmud.

(4) the "city" at the main hall level (generally at the prefecture level). Mainly: Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, etc.

(5) the "city" of the CPC (the province governs counties and cities). Mainly: Shihezi City in Xinjiang, Tianmen City in Hubei, Ruzhou City in Henan, suifenhe city City in Heilongjiang, Kunshan City in Jiangsu, etc.

(6) departmental "cities" (cities and counties under the jurisdiction of the city). Mainly: Hebei New Market, Liaoning gaizhou city, Jilin meihekou city, Heilongjiang Acheng, Jiangsu Xishan, etc.

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Source: China place name,No.12,2015.

Author: Ling Dexiang

Selected manuscript: Chang Hongyu

Transformation Editor: Chen Wenling

Final school: He Han

Revision: Wu