TYLA: A Study of Administrative Place Names in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China

Author's name: Gao Yi Jiao

Dissertation Title: A Study of Administrative Place Names in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, China

Dissertation field: linguistics

Major: Linguistics Code: 62220240

Name of the postgraduate training unit: University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

1. Purpose and scope of the thesis

The research aims to investigate the structural characteristics, meanings, linguistic origins, naming conventions, and relationships between administrative place names in the Red River Delta and the historical, geographical, and cultural factors of the region. The thesis comprehensively and systematically studies these place names, exploring their origins, characteristics, and linguistic and cultural patterns.

The subject of this thesis is the administrative place names, including village, commune, town, district, city, and prefecture names, within Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.

2. Research methods used

The thesis employs key research methods such as field survey method, descriptive method, interdisciplinary research method, statistical data analysis method, classification method, and systems research method.

3. Main results and conclusions

3.1. Main results

- We collected 1419 administrative place names at the village, district, town/city, and sub-district levels, categorized into two main types: those named based on natural factors and those named based on human factors.

- Research results show that place names here originate from various languages ​​such as Chinese, Chinese dialects, Yi, Han, Thai, Miao, Zhuang, and Buyi, and there are also place names with mixed origins from these elements.

- Administrative place names in Hong Ha Prefecture are a complex system consisting of two parts: common components and specific components. Common components in administrative place names include villages, neighborhoods, communes, towns, districts/cities, and prefectures. Specific components have three types of grammatical relationships: main-subordinate, coordinate, and subject-predicate. Place names in Chinese always follow the order of main followed by subordinate, consistent with the grammatical characteristics of the Chinese language. Place names of ethnic minority origin, however, have two types of relationships: main before subordinate and main after subordinate, depending on the type of language used in the place names.

- We divided place names into two major categories: place names named after natural factors and place names named after human factors, comprising 23 groups. The interaction between ethnic groups, languages, and cultures has left its mark on these mixed place names, with Han culture still playing a major role in the administrative place names of Hong Ha Prefecture. The results of the study of administrative place names of Hong Ha Prefecture from a cultural perspective, as expressed through the semantics of the place names, provide us with a vivid picture of the life, culture, and history of the locality.

3.2. Conclusion

The administrative place names of Hong Ha Prefecture represent a novel subject of study. This is the first systematic study of the administrative place names of Hong Ha Prefecture. The thesis has researched and surveyed 1419 place names regarding their linguistic origins, naming methods, structural patterns, and the national cultural values ​​reflected through the semantics of these place names. The research results are highly valuable for many scientific disciplines, especially in the standardization of place names.

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

The author's name: GAO YI JIAO

Thesis title: Research on the administrative place names of China's Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Scientific branch of the thesis: Linguistics

Major: Linguistics Code: 62220240

The name of postgraduate training institution: Thesis purpose and objectives

Vietnam national university – Hanoi University of Social & Humanities

1. Research methods

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the structural characteristics and meanings of Honghe Prefecture's place names, to clarify their etymology and principles for naming as well as the relationship between Honghe's administrative place names and Honghe's history, geography, and culture. The thesis conducts systematic and thorough research to understand the characteristics and cultural linguistic principles of Honghe administrative place names.

The object of research is the place names of China's Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, including village, district, county, municipality, and prefecture.

2.Major results and conclusions

2.1. The major results

- We collected 1419 administrative place names at the village, district, county, municipality, and prefecture levels. The basis of the names can be divided into natural factors and human factors.

- Research results indicate that the place names have various origins, such as Standard Chinese, local Chinese dialect, Yi, Hani, Dai, Miao, Zhuang, Bouyei, and a mix of the above.

- The place names of Honghe prefecture include compounding of common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns include the words for village, street, district, town, county, and prefecture. Proper compound nouns show the following grammatical relations: modifier and modified, coordinate structure, and subject-predicate. The word order in Chinese place names is modified followed by modifier, characteristic of Chinese syntax. But minority language place names show either modified-modifier or modifier-modified word order, depending on the typology of the minority source language.

- The two main types of basis for names are natural factors and human factors, which contain 23 smaller types. Traces of ethnic, linguistic and cultural contact are left in the names of mixed etymology. Chinese culture maintains an important status in Honghe prefecture administrative place names. The culture of Honghe administrative place names is displayed through research on their semantics, unfurling a rich picture scroll of life, culture, and history for us.

2.2.Revisions

Honghe administrative place names is a completely new object of research. This is the first research project to scientifically investigate Honghe place names. The thesis collected and analyzed 1419 place names' etymology, method of naming, word structure, and the value of ethnic culture demonstrated in the place names' semantics. The research results are valuable to many disciplines, especially contributing to the work of standardizing place names.