武陵土家族地区地名概说

A Brief Introduction to Place Names in Wuling Mountain Area(Tujia Ethnic Area)

武陵土家族地区地名是土家族文化的标志与见证,这些地名不仅能反映土家族地区的地理环境,更能反映土家族地区人们生产和生活的痕迹,是一种重要的民族文化遗产。武陵土家族地区地名丰富多样,有以地形、地貌、地质(矿)命名者;有以气候原因命名者;而以地理山水命名和以动植物命名者比例极高;以人类活动形成的地名也占有相当的比例,如以重要历史、军事事件命名的军事地名、边界、关口地名,其中人文地名中姓氏地名所占比例最高。另外,地名还在无形中记录了人与生态环境关系的信息。武陵土家族地区地名是自然、历史和人文文化相互影响、相互作用的结果,是自然人化、人化自然紧密结合的结果。随着时代变迁新的地名也随之产生,因此小小的地名所承载的信息、文化和启示是不能忽视的,应当作为民族文化遗产给予保护和传承。

As an ethnic cultural legacy, place names in Wuling Tujia ethnic areas are a symbol and witness of Tujia ethnic culture and history. They reflect not only the geographical environment of Tujia ethnic area, but also the traces of Tujia people's life and production. Place names in Wuling Tujia ethnic areas are rich and diversified. The richest are the names formed from natural surroundings, such as topography, landform, and geology. Some names were formed for climatic causes. A large proportion of place names were formed for the mountains or waters as well as animals and plants. Besides, place names have become a record of the relationship between man and ecological environment. There are also a large proportion of names formed because of human activities, such as military names, frontier names, and pass names which were formed for important historical military affairs. Among the place names formed for humanity reasons, the majority are people' s surnames as they imply richest cultural information. Place names are the result of the mutual influences of and interaction between nature, history and human culture. With the change of times, new place names are sure to follow. Therefore, the information carried by place names and the cultural enlightenment should not be neglected. They should be protected and carried on as an ethnic cultural heritage.