“岷”“汶”地名与古藏缅语的“天”rMu

Min,Wen,and rMu:A Study of Place Names in theBorder Region Between Sichuan and Gansu

汉文史籍对"岷""汶"地名的记录较早,也很连续。但实际上,"岷""汶"并非是源于汉语的地名,它们很可能是古藏缅语mu/rmu或dmu即"天"的译音用字。在系统梳理汉文史籍对"岷""汶"地名记录的基础上,对学界关于"岷""汶"地名语源、地望方面的研究进行了批评并提出了新的见解。

The first occurrence of Min(岷)and Wen(汶)as place names in the Chinese historical sources with varied Chinese characters dated back to more than two millennia ago.This paper examines these early sources and relevant secondary literature,and believes that Wen was derived from Min,which is the name of a major mountain range and Min was in turn a Chinese rendition of the proto-Tibeto-Burman word mu/rmu/dmu/rMu(heaven or sky)that had been regarded as the holiest mountain range with her noble peaks tower into the sky in the eastern marge of Tibetan plateau and the border region of Sichuan and Gansu.