“敦煌”得名考原

Notes on the Origins of the Place Name“Dunhuang”

关于“敦煌”一名的含义,学界给出了多种解释,或汉语,或藏语,或羌语,或吐火罗语,众说纷纭,长期为学界公案。综观西汉武帝设立河西四郡前著于史册的五个早期地名——合黎山、黑水、祁连山、焉支山、敦煌,其中四个大体可以确定都属于突厥语,即合黎=Qara,意为“高”,合黎山意为“高山”,黑水=QaraSu,意为“清亮的水”,祁连=Tängri,意为“天”,焉支(胭脂)=yänggä,意为“嫂子”,同于匈奴单于夫人“阏氏”和今天维吾尔语嫂子yänggä。从史书遗留的当地民族的词汇看,先后生活于敦煌一带的月氏、乌孙、匈奴所操的语言皆为突厥语。说明彼时河西为突厥语分布区,从大概率讲,“敦煌”之名亦应为突厥语。突厥语中有tawuz一词,意为“瓜”或“西瓜”,敦煌古以产瓜闻名,在相当长时间被称作瓜州。将敦煌解释为突厥语tawuz的音译,或许更接近敦煌地名起源之真义。敦煌原为区域名称,以产瓜闻名,后因作为敦煌郡治而特指敦煌绿洲。

There are many views on the meaning of“Dunhuang”among academics today that differ if the analysis assumes that this name has its source in Chinese,Tibetan,Northern Qiang,or Tocharian language.This long unsolved mystery can be elucidated by looking at the five early place names that existed before Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty established the four prefectures of Hexi.They are Heli Shan(Heli Mountain),Heishui(Black Water),Qilian Shan(Qilian Mountain),Yanzhi Shan(Yanzhi Mountain),and Dunhuang.Four of these can be confirmed to derive from the Turkic language:Heli,or“Qara,”means“high,”and Heli together with Shan refer to high mountains;Heishui,or“QaraSu,”means“clear water;”Qilian,or“Tängri,”means“sky;”and Yanzhi,or“yänggä,”means“sister-in-law,”which refers to the queen of the Xiongnu people and is still used in modern Uighur language.Judging from what can be seen in historical records of the language used by local people,the ethnicgroups that successively lived in Dunhuang,including the Yuezhi,Wusun and Xiongnu,all spoke ancient dialects of Turkic.This indicates that Turkic was the dominant language system in the Hexi region at that time,and therefore the name of“Dunhuang”is likely derived from Turkic.The word“tawuz”in Turkic means“melon”or“water melon,”and Dunhuang was famous for producing melons in ancient times and was even known as Guazhou(“region of melons”),for a long time.To explain Dunhuang as a transliteration of the Turkic word“tawuz”seems closer to the real meaning of the original name of Dunhuang.“Dunhuang”was first the name of an area famous for producing melons and was later used to refer to the Dunhuang oasis region that served as theseat of Dunhuang Prefecture.