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Geographical name is a special cultural phenomenon. It is the language signs that distinguish different places and an indispensable medium of people’s social communication and economic activities. It contains rich cultural connotations. It is the product of the development of human society to a certain stage with its own occurrence and development law. Because of the different cultural backgrounds from which Chinese and English emerge, the two languages are loaded with different cultures. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the culture features in the geographical names for the learning of a foreign language, which has the vital practical significance.
II. The Sources of Geographical Names
2.1 Chinese Geographical Names
Most modern Chinese geographical names are from ancient times, and there are many similarities in the ancient and modern geographical names. The geographical names have certain sources. With a long history and a vast territory, China has different local conditions and customs, and the geographical persity reflected in the geographical names. Chinese geographical names have the following sources:
Some places are named after geographical landscape, such as Heilong River, Daheng ditch, Hongpo slope, elephant nose, etc. The land form elements that constituted geographical names include: ditch, mound, township, wall, tower, bay, city, market, door. pool. ridge, channel, barrier, etc. In addition, different historical period also has the different characteristics of geographical names. In the pre-Qin period, the North China Plain was the political and cultural center, and as there were many hills, so many places were named after the “mound, hill”. Since then, because of the water flowing of the Yellow River, geographical landscape changed, and “mound and hill” also gradually disappeared from geographical names. In the Han Dynasty, many places were named after the gathering place, such as ‘township, gathering’, which showed the local grassroots administrative system at that time. In the Nan-Bei Dynasties, because of nobility land ownership as well as defense against social unrest, ‘dock, wall, base, fort’ and other words were applied in geographical names. In the Tang Dynasty, due to the rising of urban commerce, ‘town, market, municipality’ marked by the characteristics of bazaar were widely used in geographical names. Until to Qin and Han Dynasties, the scope of “state” was still very uncertain. At the end of Han Dynasty, “state” became the administrative pision above the county. Later, people used “islet” to replace “state”.
Some places are named after the last name of a family, ethic group, and people. The patriarchal clan system based on kinship ties is the social foundation of Chinese traditional culture. Therefore, the villages or cities named after the last name or the last name of ethnic group are the most common. In the patriarchal society, people often lived in a compact community according to the last name and used the last name to name their resettlement place. The main way of naming was last name plus geographical landscape or “village” (township and county) or administrative region pision. For example, “Qi County” got its name because the senior official called Qixi in Chinese Spring and Autumn period once lived here. Some places are also named after the revolutionary heroes, Zuo Quan and Liu Zhidan, who are the heros in the War of Resistance Against Japan,for example “Zuoquan county”, “Zhidan County”.
Some places are named after plants and animals. Here are some examples: ,源Z自+751=文)论(文]网[www.751com.cn Apple Orchards, Date Ditch, Cottonwood Grove, Fragrant Grass, Cypress Stone, Deer Valley, Horse Township, Crane Village, Leopard Mountain, Sheep Springs, Camel Street, Sheep slope, etc.
Some places are named after the history. The names coming from the fairy tales are: Theocracy, Monastery, Avalokitesvara Hall, Lion God, Old Stone God, Jade Woman Peak, etc. Wenxi means hearing the good news in Chinese, which located in the southwest of Shanxi Province, and due to that in the Western Han Dynasty, the emperor Liu Che came here and heard the good news that the army had took the Guangdong, so this place was named “Wenxi County”. The name “Lingshi county” (Lingshi means precious stone in Chinese) was given because an ancient meteorolite was found here when people dug the river.