| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 94 === 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.
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