臺灣日治時期地名變更小考──從日語觀點來看

A Study in The Changes of Place Names in Taiwan during Japanese Ruling Period: From the Prospect of Japanese

林慧君(Hui-Jun Lin)

《臺大東亞文化研究》 3期 (2015/10) Pp. 141-159

https://doi.org/10.6579/NJEAC.2015.3.5

摘要

臺灣在日本殖民統治時代歷經數次地名改革，其中1920年（大正9年）變更數量最多，以各種方法改成日式地名，如「高雄」、「田中」、「水上」等。既然是日本人所更改的臺灣地名，改名與日文這個語言（發音、文字等）應是息息相關。因此，本文從日語語言的觀點重新考察、論述這些日式地名，探究這些地名與日語及日本之間的關聯性。本文主要從日語的發音、文字，以及地理環境因素，再加上與日本地名之間的關聯性來重新分析，以考察這些日治時期地名。首先，了解到因文字以及地理環境因素變更的日治時期地名，讀成日語音讀音者，多數是日本國內沒有的地名；相對地，讀成訓讀音者，大部分也可在日本國內找到相同的地名，可以說是具有日本風味、較日本化的臺灣日治時期地名。惟因發音關係而變更之日治時期地名，雖也有讀成日語音讀音及訓讀音之別，但這跟該地名是否與日本地名之間有所關聯性似乎無關；其他有些地名即使經總督府變更之後，仍忠於原臺灣閩南語音者，幾乎都是日本國內不存在之地名，因此可以說是非日本化的臺灣日治時期地名。

關鍵字

日治時期地名 ； 日語音讀音 ； 日語訓讀音 ； 文字 ； 地理環境

並列摘要

During the Japanese Ruling Period, Taiwan underwent several phases of name changes in various locations. The one with the most names changed happened in 1920 (the ninth year of the Japanese Taisho era). For example, Kaohsiung, Tianzhong, Shushang, and etc., these were all names of places that were newly adopted then. Since the Japanese government instituted these new names, they should carry a close linguistic resemblance to Japanese. This article analyzes these place names from Japanese perspectives, and seeks out the connections between the names and their linguistic origin. These place names left from the Japanese Ruling Period may be analyzed from their pronunciations, kanji characters, and historical backgrounds. When viewing place names from these three perspectives as well as taking geographical naming conventions in Japan into account, we discover four important ideas. 1) When the place names were changed due to kanji characters or historical backgrounds, the names are usually read in on’yomi. These were usually names that didn't exist in Japan. 2) On the other hand, when the place names are read in kun'yomi, we can often find the same place names in Japan. Those names shifted to Japanese styles during the Japanese Ruling Period. 3) There are several place names that were changed due to their original pronunciations. They can be categorized into the on'yomi group and the kun' yomi group. However, they show no direct relationship with place names in Japan 4) Last, there were certain place names, which still retained their pronunciations in Taiwanese even after the changes. Most of these names could not be found in Japan. They are the non-Japanesestyle names left over from the Japanese Ruling Period.

並列關鍵字

Place names ； Japanese Ruling Period ； Japanese pronunciation ； Japanese on'yomi ； Japanese kun'yomi ； kanji character ； historical background