從地名的演變看中部地區開發族群的互動

Abstract

地名，是一群人在某一塊土地上生活過的痕跡，包含了歷史、地理以及語言三種要素。一如人名代表了命名者所附與被命名者的意義，地名也顯示了這塊土地對於當地居民的意義。然而在歷史、地理與語言的交互作用之下，如今呈現在我們眼前的地名泰半已無法從表面的字義瞭解當初命名的意義。以臺灣為例，歷經最早的原住民、海權時代西、荷兩國的佔領、明清以降漢人的移墾、馬關條約後日本的統治、到二次大戰後光復迄今，如此複雜的住民變化使得臺灣地名在解讀上有許多的困難。針對這個現象，有學者認為漢語地名的演化方式不外乎(a)漢字譯音而後簡化縮短；(b)譯意；(c)完全更換；(d)保留土著族統稱(洪敏麟，1980)；另有學者提出地質學中化石的概念，認為可經由開發的時間先後，來推論地名所歷經的演變（陳正祥，1959）。大體而言，現有的地名研究多半是橫斷面的將地名加以分類，再就各個類別探索當中的演化。  本研究採用化石層的概念，認為現今的地名是由各個開發的族群先後以各自的文化堆疊而成，而當中所採用的語言規則各有不同，提供的是一個縱剖面的角度。將每一個時期的住民視為一「層」，而每一「層」均有其不同的地名命名語言規則，按著時間軸的順序累加演變成為現今的地名。由於地名相對於人名有著 不易更動的穩定特質，縱使景物變遷，然而從地名當中我們仍可看出曾經活動於這塊土地上族群的痕跡。  本研究以中部地區為主要研究範圍，包含現在的台中、彰化、南投縣市以及部分苗栗與雲林地區。現今台灣的社會以閩南族群為多數，然而透過地名演變規則的回溯，我們發現除了閩南族群之外，原住民，尤其是南島平埔族，以及客家族群都曾在中部地區的開發上扮演重要的角色，並且有過密切的互動。近年來有不少地方開始重新使用當地的舊地名，例如台中縣清水的港區藝術中心有個「牛罵頭文化園區」，彰化中學畢業生的紀念書包上寫著「半線風情」，希望透過舊地名的還原，在台灣中部地區的開發史中留給這些族群一個位置，也讓不同的語言文化，豐富我們的視野。There are three components of place names: history, geography, and language. Place names have to be expressed through language, so language shall play an important role in studying place names. However, for lack of systematic research, most literatures on place names of Taiwan are still first-hand field work data. There were different ethnic groups inhabited in Taiwan in the past centuries, including aboriginal Austronesia people, the Spanish and the Dutch, Han Chinese, and the Japanese. Each one of them had their own naming patterns of place names according to their linguistic structures, and so as time went by, they kept accumulating just like fossilized layers. Like personal names, place names were given certain meanings in the first place. Nevertheless, place names, comparing with personal names, tend to be more descriptive and objective, lasting longer and are relatively stable (Li, 1998). As referents, place names reflect significantly the language and culture of the inhabitants, so different linguistic rules and practices of different ethnic groups can be seen in place names’ morphology and naming patterns. The present study then focuses on the place names of central Taiwan, expecting to construct a clearer and more complete view of development of central Taiwan through applying linguistic analysis to place names. In the study we find that actually the Pingpu and Hakka people did play important roles in the development of central Taiwan, although nowadays Hoklo people are the dominant group of central Taiwan. In fact they had quite close interactions with each other. Recently some areas of central Taiwan start to restore their old place names. Through these restorations, we hope that these ethnic groups can be remembered in the development history, and our horizons can be broadened by their languages and cultures.