Cover not available

Article published In: Proper Names:
Edited by Chia-Jung Pan and Yang Huang
[Asian Languages and Linguistics 6:1] 2025
► pp. 229–252

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Linguistic features of indigenous toponymy

Place names and locative nouns in Tsou

ORCiD logo with link | Beijing Normal University
Published online: 19 August 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/alal.25013.pan
Abstract
This study examines the linguistic features of Tsou toponymy, with a special focus on the structural and functional distinctions between place names and locative nouns. Through a descriptive and typological analysis, a semantic and formal markedness hierarchy is established; that is, zero-marking/loanwords > specific marker -ana > reduplication > compounding (’oyona)/affixation (-a, ’o-…-a). Specifically, larger and more prominent locations exhibit minimal morphological marking, whereas smaller or more specialized locations display increasing complexity. Besides, place names exhibit phonological stress placement, integration of loanwords, and the specific marker -ana, which categorizes villages, rivers, mountains, and landmarks. In contrast, locative nouns employ derivational affixes (-a, ’o-…-a) and compounding (’oyona) to encode spatial functions associated with institutions, transport facilities, and commerce. Reduplication further differentiates the two categories, marking either natural abundance in place names or dedicated cultivation in locative nouns. These findings demonstrate how morphological distinctions structure Tsou toponymy, and further contribute to a deeper understanding of Austronesian toponymic systems by illustrating how morphological complexity corresponds to degrees of referential specificity.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on toponyms in Taiwan
  • 3.Typological profile of the Tsou language
  • 4.Phonological properties
  • 5.Loanwords
  • 6.Derivational affixes
    • 6.1The locative suffix -a
    • 6.2The locative circumfix ’o-…-a
  • 7.Specific marker -ana
  • 8.Reduplication
  • 9.’oyona structures
    • 9.1Classes of locative nouns consisting of ’oyona
    • 9.2Compositional patterns consisting of ’oyona
  • 10.Summary and conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • Orthography
  • References
References (31)
References
Blust, Robert. (1999). Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: Some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Elizabeth Zeitoun and Paul Jen-kuei Li (Eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, (pp. 31–94). Symposium Series of the Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica, No. 1. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013). The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burenhult, N., & Levinson, S. C. (2008). Language and landscape: a cross-linguistic perspective. Language Sciences, 30(2–3), 135–150.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Yungli 張永利 & Chia-Jung Pan 潘家榮. (2018). Zouyu yufa gailun 鄒語語法概論 [A Sketch Grammar of Tsou]. Taiwan nandao yuyan congshu 7 臺灣南島語言叢書 7 [Series on Formosan Languages 7]. Xinbei 新北 [New Taipei]: Yuanzhuminzu weiyuanhui 原住民族委員會 [Council of Indigenous Peoples]. (2nd ed.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Jung-hsing 張榮興. (2011). Taiwan shouyu xingshi renzhi yu zao-ci celue yanjiu 台灣手語姓氏認知與造詞策略研究 [Cognition and Lexical Formation of Family Names in Taiwan Sign Language]. Taipei 台北: Wenhe Chubanshe 文鶴出版社 [Crane Publishing].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Jinhua 陈金华 & Xiaomei Ji 纪小美. (2013). Taiwan diming wenhua yu jingguan guanxi tanxi 台湾地名文化与景观关系探析 [Relationship between Scenery and Culture of Toponym in Taiwan]. Huaqiao daxue xuebao (zhexue shehui kexue ban)华侨大学学报（哲学社会科学版）[Journal of Huaqiao University (Philosophy & Social Sciences)] 31: 55–63.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gammeltoft, Peder. (2016). Names and geography. In Carole Hough (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, (pp. 502–512). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hawkes, Jacquetta. (1978). A Land. Newton Abbot: David and Charles.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hough, Carole. (2016). Introduction. In Carole Hough (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, (pp. 1–13). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2016). Settlement names. In Carole Hough (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, (pp. 87–103). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hu, Jackson 胡正恆 & Tzu-Ching Lin 林子晴. (2012). Qingxu zai dijing zhong chuanyue guchin: cong Dayu (Yamei) wenhua de diming goushi tanqi 情緒在地景中穿越古今：從達悟（雅美）文化的地名構詞談起 [Emotional reminders of Tao/Yami landscape between the past and present: In the case of making place names]. Nandao yanjiu xuebao 南島研究學報 [The Journal of Austronesian Studies] 4(1), 1–24.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunn, E. (1996). Columbia Plateau Indian place names: What can they teach us? Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 6(1), 3–26.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ICOS (2019). List of Key Onomastic Terms English 2019. Available online at: 〈[URL]〉 [accessed 06 March 2025)].
Jakobsen, Jakob. (1901). Shetlandsøernes Stednavne. Copenhagen: Thiele.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Paul Jen-kuei. (1979). Variations in the Tsou dialects. Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 [Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica] 50(2), 273–300.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2021). Adverbs in the Austronesian Languages of Taiwan. Asian Languages and Linguistics 2.11:80–109. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Rulong 李如龙. (1993). Hanyu dimingxue lungao 汉语地名学论稿 [Essays on Chinese Toponymy]. Shanghai上海: Shanghai Jiaoyu Chubanshe 上海教育出版社 [Shanghai Educational Publishing House].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1998). Diming yu yuyanxue lunji 地名与语言学论集 [Essays on Toponymy and Linguistics]. Fuzhou福州: Fujian Sheng Ditu Chubanshe 福建省地图出版社 [Fujian Province Cartographic Publishing House].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Shu-Chen 黎淑珍. (2015). Ke zhuang dimingci de yinyu ji zhuanyu tixian: yi Xinzhu xian Baoshan xiang wei li 客庄地名詞的隱喻及轉喻體現──以新竹縣寳山鄉為例 [The metaphoric and metonymic uses of place names in Hakka: A case of Baoshan Township, Hsinchu County]. Hsinchu 新竹: Xinzhu jiaoyu daxue shuoshi lunwen新竹教育大學碩士論文 [National Hsinchu University of Education M.A. Thesis].
Liao, Jong-Jiunn 廖忠俊. (2007). Cong diming fenlei kan Taiwan chuantong diming 從地名分類看臺灣傳統地名 [A toponymic classification-based analysis of traditional place names in Taiwan]. Taiwan wenxian 臺灣文獻 [Taiwan Historica], 58(3), 175–222.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, Hong-Sui 林鴻瑞. (2017). Yuanyu yuanzhumin zuyu de Taiwan xiangzhen diming tantao 源於原住民族語的台灣鄉鎮地名探討 [Taiwan township names originated from indigenous etymology]. Taiwan yuanzhumin yanjiu xuebao 台灣原住民族研究學報 [Journal of the Taiwan Indigenous Studies Association], 7(2): 151–176.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, Hui-Wen 劉慧雯. (2006). Keyu diming zhong de fangweici: yi Xinpu, Guanxi, Xionglin diqu wei li 客語地名中的方位詞：以新埔、關西、芎林地區為例 [Locational words in Hakka place names: A case of Hsin-pu, Kwan-hsi, and Chiung-lin]. Yuwen Xuebao 語文學報 [Journal of Language and Literature], 131: 215–234.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco & Cavallaro, Francesco. (2023). Place Names: Approaches and Perspectives in Toponymy and Toponomastics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandnes, Berit. (2016). Names and language contact. In Carole Hough (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, (pp. 540–553). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsuchida, Shigeru. (1995). Tsou. In Darrell T. Tryon (Ed.), Comparative Austronesian dictionary: An introduction to Austronesian studies, (pp. 293–296). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tung, T’ung-ho, with the assistance of S. H. Wang, T. K. Kuan, T. F. Cheng and Margaret M. Yan. (1964). A Descriptive Study of the Tsou Language, Formosa. Institute of History and Philology Special Publications, No. 48. Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Langendonck, Willy. (1998). A typological approach to place-name categories, in W. F. H. Nicolaisen (ed.), Proceedings of the XIXth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences Aberdeen, August 4–11, 1996. Scope, Perspectives and Methods of Onomastics, vol. 11., (pp. 342–48). Aberdeen: Department of English, University of Aberdeen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2007). Theory and Typology of Proper Names. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs 168. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Langendonck, Willy, & Van de Velde, Mark. (2016). Names and grammar. In Carole Hough (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, (pp. 17–38). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wu, Shaoching 吳少卿. (2023). Yi shuwei renwen fangfa fenxi Dayu yu Langdao diming 以數位人文方法分析達悟語朗島地名 [Analyzing Yami (Tao) Iraraley place names on Orchid Island with digital humanities methods]. Chiayi 嘉義: Zhongzheng daxue yuyanxue yanjiusuo shuoshi lunwen 中正大學語言學研究所碩士論文 [National Chung Cheng University M.A. Thesis].
Zeitoun, Elizabeth 齊莉莎. (2000). Zouyu cankao yufa 鄒語參考語法 [A Reference Grammar of Tsou]. Taiwan nandao yuyan 7 臺灣南島語言 7 [Formosan Languages 7]. Taibei 臺北 [Taipei]: Yuanliu chuban gongsi 遠流出版公司 [Yuan-Liou Publishing Co.].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue