Received date: 2018-06-20
Request revised date: 2018-09-05
Online published: 2018-11-20
Copyright
Using historical materials, this study introduces the changing geographical names in the Nansha Islands. Four toponym systems are described in this study, including the folk place name toponym system, from the Gen Lu Bu, and three official toponym systems published by the Chinese Government in 1935, 1947, and 1983. Gen Lu Bu is a type of navigation book created by ancient fishermen from Hainan Island. Since the Ming Dynasty, the folk place names of the Nansha Islands have been recorded in the Gen Lu Bu, including more than 100 individual island, reef, bank, and shoal names in the islands. However, for European mariners in the late 18th and early 19th century, the South China Sea was an unknown area with hazards. Following the early 19th century, foreign hydrographic survey vessels circumnavigated the Nansha Islands, surveying and mapping. Lacking a careful consideration of existing Chinese names of the Nansha Islands, most islands were renamed by these newcomers. Without a geographical survey and native place name census, the first batch of official names of the Nansha Islands reviewed and approved by China's Committee for the Examination for the Land and Sea Maps in 1935 primarily adopted these foreign-source names. Japan illegally occupied and renamed the Nansha Islands during its war of aggression against China. With the return of the South China Sea Islands after the end of the Second World War, the majority of the first official names were modified and refined by the Chinese Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1947, and a dozen new island names were added. Based on research on the Gen Lu Bu, many folk place names were adopted in the third round of standardization of the Nansha Islands names, and 189 Nansha Islands standardized geographical names were officially published by the China Committee on Geographical Names in 1983. These toponym systems are extremely important to China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands. Based on a statistical analysis of toponym systems, the characteristics of generic and specific names are presented in this study, and etymological interpretations are described. The development, advantages, and disadvantages of toponym systems are analyzed. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the toponym system currently in use and proposes some suggestions accordingly. First, some existing geographical names of islands should be published officially and systematically. Second, for state sovereignty and navigation safety, parts of the large atoll, new sand cays, and large artificial islands should be named. Third, the island names sourced from exotic words should be replaced with the folk place names from the Gen Lu Bu. Finally, modern hydrographic surveying should be used to verify ambiguous reefs and banks.
Key words: the Nansha Islands; toponym; changing process; Gen Lu Bu; island naming
ZHU Haitian . Analysis of geographical names in the Nansha Islands[J]. GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, 2018 , 37(11) : 2344 -2354 . DOI: 10.11821/dlyj201811017
Tab. 1 The etymological classification of Nansha Islands folk place names表1 南沙岛礁渔民俗称词源分类 |
| 渔民俗称来源类型 | 数量(个) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|
| 地理特征 | 54 | 眼镜铲、黄山马 |
| 方位 | 13 | 第三峙、丑未 |
| 岛礁出产 | 6 | 墨瓜线、赤瓜线 |
| 水文特征 | 5 | 鬼喊、染青石 |
| 传说 | 2 | 五百二、棍猪线 |
| 派生地名 | 18 | 黄山马东、九章头 |
| 名称含义待考 | 3 | 贡士沙、高佛 |
| 合计 | 101 |
Tab. 2 The generic name classification of the Nansha Islands names published in 1935表2 1935年南沙岛礁名称通名分类 |
| 通名类型 | 数量(个) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|
| 岛 | 10 | 暴风岛、伊都阿巴岛 |
| 礁 | 45 | 沙比礁、北恶礁 |
| 滩 | 38 | 半月滩、西宾那滩 |
| 石 | 2 | 西石、女神庙石 |
| 群礁 | 1 | 帝都岛与群礁 |
| 无通名 | 4 | 庄臣怕余、燕子窝 |
| 合计 | 100 |
Tab. 3 The change between the Nansha Islands names published in 1935 and 1947表3 南沙岛礁1947年核定名称与1935年定名变迁情况统计 |
| 变迁情况 | 数量(个) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|
| 保留原名 | 2 | 海马滩、司令礁 |
| 更改名称 | 88 | 伊都阿巴岛更名为太平岛 |
| 新增名称 | 12 | 尹庆群礁、中业岛 |
| 删除名称 | 6 | 破浪礁、庄臣怕余 |
Tab. 4 The generic name classification of the Nansha Islands names published in 1947表4 1947年南沙岛礁名称通名分类 |
| 通名类型 | 数量(个) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|
| 群礁 | 4 | 中业群礁、郑和群礁 |
| 岛 | 13 | 南钥岛、南威岛 |
| 沙洲 | 3 | 杨信沙洲、安波沙洲 |
| 礁 | 37 | 美济礁、西礁 |
| 暗沙 | 31 | 曾母暗沙、南康暗沙 |
| 滩 | 13 | 礼乐滩、万安滩 |
| 堡 | 1 | 蓬勃堡 |
| 合计 | 102 |
Tab. 5 The change between the Nansha Islands names published in 1947 and 1983表5 南沙岛礁1983年标准地名与1947年核定名称变迁情况统计 |
| 变迁情况 | 数量(个) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|
| 保留原名 | 87 | 中业岛、榆亚暗沙 |
| 更改名称 | 13 | 立威岛更名为单柱石 |
| 恢复并更名 | 5 | 恢复霸加那大并更名为柏礁 |
| 新增名称 | 84 | 梅九礁、牛轭礁 |
| 暂不公布名称 | 2 | 八仙暗沙、立地暗沙 |
Tab. 6 The generic name classification of the Nansha Islands names currently in use表6 南沙岛礁现用通名分类 |
| 通名类型 | 数量(个) | 占比(%) | 示例 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 群礁 | 6 | 3.2 | 双子群礁、九章群礁 |
| 岛 | 11 | 5.8 | 南子岛、景宏岛 |
| 沙洲 | 6 | 3.2 | 双黄沙洲、敦谦沙洲 |
| 礁 | 99 | 52.4 | 永暑礁、渚碧礁 |
| 暗沙 | 35 | 18.5 | 曾母暗沙、盟谊暗沙 |
| 滩 | 21 | 11.1 | 南薇滩、安渡滩 |
| 石 | 3 | 1.6 | 单柱石、鸟鱼锭石 |
| 岩 | 1 | 0.5 | 石龙岩 |
| 堡 | 1 | 0.5 | 蓬勃堡 |
| 无通名 | 6 | 3.2 | 五方头、石盘仔 |
| 合计 | 189 |
Tab. 7 The etymological classification of existing specific names for the Nansha Islands表7 南沙岛礁沿用已有专名来源分类 |
| 来源类型 | 数量(个) | 占总比(%) | 示例 | 渔民俗称 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 外来语音译或意译 | 52 | 27.5 | 安达礁、棕滩 | |
| 地理特征 | 24 | 22.2 | 长线礁、牛车轮礁 | |
| 方位 | 4 | 半路礁、乙辛石 | ||
| 岛礁出产 | 2 | 赤瓜礁、无乜礁 | ||
| 水文特征 | 3 | 鬼喊礁、浪口礁 | ||
| 派生地名 | 8 | 五方尾、石盘仔 | ||
| 待考证 | 1 | 贡士礁 | ||
| 共计 | 94 | 49.7 |
Tab. 8 The etymological classification of new specific names of the Nansha Islands表8 南沙岛礁专名命名方法分类 |
| 命名方法 | 数量(个) | 占总比(%) | 示例 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 根据地理特征命名 | 16 | 8.5 | 弹丸礁、长滩 | |
| 根据历史文化命名 | 以人名命名 | 23 | 15.9 | 鸿庥岛、马欢岛 |
| 以官职命名 | 4 | 校尉暗沙、都护暗沙 | ||
| 以军舰名命名 | 3 | 太平岛、中业岛 | ||
| 反映社会意识人民愿望 | 26 | 13.7 | 忠孝滩、海安礁 | |
| 借移地名 | 13 | 6.9 | 潭门礁、琼礁 | |
| 待考证 | 10 | 5.3 | 紫滩、彬礁 | |
| 共计 | 95 | 50.3 | ||
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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