西部哨所“喀格勒克”语源、语义考

On Place Name of Karghalik

新疆西南部的叶城县位于喀喇昆仑山北麓和塔里木盆地西南缘,同巴基斯坦、印度相邻,与克什米尔接壤,是我国西部边境地区的前哨。叶城为叶尔羌的简称,维吾尔语称“喀格勒克”,系由“qarghu”(哨所,烽火台)演变而来,后因“r”音的脱落,语义变化为“qaghiliq”(乌鸦很多的地方)。这说明该地名的语源和语义不能只凭口语称谓进行定义,其原有语义和口语语义之间仍存在一定程度上的差异。叶城及周边有许多类似的地名,如喀尕买里、喀尕贝格、喀尕博依、喀尕阿格孜等,经口语演化,其语义均成为与乌鸦关联的地名,这些都是历史上包括今叶城在内该地区民族演变、杂居及融合的见证。

Yecheng County in southwestern Xinjiang,located at the northern foot of the Karakoram Mountains and the southwestern edge of the Tarim Basin,is adjacent to Pakistan and India,and borders Kashmir.It is an outpost in the western border region of China.Yecheng,the abbreviation of Yeerqiang(Yarkand),is pronounced as"Karghalik"in the Uyghur language.The place name is evolved from"qarghu"(meaning"fortress,fire tower").Later,due to the loss of"r"sound,it is evolved to"qaghiliq"(meaning"a place with many crows").This fact shows that the etymolo-gy and semantics of the place name cannot be determined only by the colloquial appellation,as there is a certain de-gree of difference between the original semantics and the colloquial semantics.Many similar place names in and around Yecheng,such as qagha mahalla,qaghabeghi,qaghaboyi,qaghaaghizi,etc.,are all associated with"crows"af-ter the evolution of colloquialization,which are witnesses to the evolution,co-habitation and integration of ethnic groups in this region in history,including Yecheng.