Interesting stories about place names in Quang Tri.

Việt Nam•31/03/2024

Place names in particular, and toponymy in general, is a fascinating yet challenging and complex field. The study of toponymy is not just the story of one discipline, but also involves the interrelationship of various interdisciplinary sciences . Within the scope of this article, we will only briefly touch upon some place names in Quang Tri province.

Due to various reasons, village names change according to historical, cultural, and linguistic circumstances. Therefore, looking back at the list of ancient villages, there are very few that have remained unchanged for centuries; such a number can probably be counted on less than one hand. For example, among the 65 oldest villages in Quang Tri , established between 1075 and 1553, Co Trai village (Vinh Linh district) is the most unchanging, existing to this day; later, there is Cang Gian village (some call it Cuong Gian) in Gio Linh district (actually Do Linh, because "Do" is related to the meaning of "freedom"). The phenomenon of villages changing names is very common. This change arises mainly from the following reasons:

- Firstly, due to taboo names: this was the most important reason for changing village names during the feudal era because village names could not be the same as the names of kings or emperors. They had to be changed to avoid committing a heinous crime, which could result in execution. For example, Hoa La village was initially named Hoa An, later changed to Bich La in Trieu Phong; Nghia Doan village was later changed to Nghia An, now part of Dong Ha city...

- Secondly, changes in pronunciation are due to dialect. For example, the original name of the intersection, "Dã Độ," is recorded in Lê Qúy Đôn's "Phủ biên tạp lục," but through the pronunciation of the local people, the tilde becomes a heavy accent: Dã Độ becomes Dạ Độ, and later it transforms into Gia Độ, causing confusion and bewilderment for those interested in the original name...

- Thirdly, changes are made voluntarily by the villagers during the village's development. For example, Tay Tri village, now part of Dong Ha city, was formerly Lien Tri village (meaning lotus pond); or Dai Do village, also in Dong Ha today, was originally Thuong Do village...

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- Fourthly, village names were changed due to the ruling government forcing the change of names. For example, the village of Tri Le in Hai Lang. Because the villagers supported the Can Vuong movement, the Southern Dynasty government later forced them to change the name to Quy Thien (implying submission to goodness, that is, compliance with the feudal and colonial government); or the village name "Con Cat" in Gio Linh, which was originally given by the villagers, but the authorities found it unappealing and unattractive, so they ordered it changed to Cat Son, a name that remains to this day. Interesting stories about place names in Quang Tri.

- The name is often distorted through copying and misinterpretation. Take the example of the place name La Vang. In the past, locals called this place La Vang Hill because many of these trees grew there. When the French arrived, they asked for the name and wrote it in their language without accents, recording it on the map as La Vang. Then, the locals adopted the name, and it gradually became almost the default. Similarly, the place name Khe Van in Huong Hiep commune, Dakrong district, on National Highway 9, was also similarly misspelled when the Americans arrived and marked it on the map without accents, later becoming Khe Van...

There are village names that are inverted in the style of AB and BA, but have no significant relationship with each other, such as Tuong Van village and Van Tuong village in Trieu Phong district, or An Xuan village in Cam Lo district and Xuan An village in Trieu Phong district. There are also cases where two villages share only one word but are closely related, for example, Tan Tuong village in Cam Lo district was founded by people from Tuong Van village who migrated south from Cua Viet.

There are places with similar names that are related to each other, such as two places named "Ben Ngu" (Royal Wharf), one in Gio Linh and one in Vinh Linh, both recording the traces of a king's visit and stay (residence); and there are also places with similar names that are completely unrelated, for example, Cam Thuy commune has Tan Xuan village, inhabited by people who used to live on boats and settled on land, and there is also Tan Xuan village in Cam Thanh commune, but it is inhabited by farmers and noodle makers from An Xuan village, Thanh An commune (formerly part of Cam An commune) who migrated there as part of the new economic zone, and still retain the old village name.

Through our research and survey of place names, we have noticed a phenomenon that we would like to present for readers to analyze and explain. That is, in Quang Tri and even Hue, very few place names contain the linguistic element "North" used to indicate direction. For example, there are villages like Dong Ha and Tay Tri in Dong Ha, but none contain the word "North." Similarly, in Trieu Phong, there is the village of Bich La with four hamlets: Bich La Dong, Bich La Nam, Bich La Trung, and Bich La Ha, but no Bich La Bac. In Cam Lo, there are villages like Nam Hung and Dong Dinh... There is only one village named Bac Binh, but it originated from the original village of Cam Lo and was only established later, about a century ago. Looking more broadly in Hue, there are villages like Dong Ba, Tay Loc, and Nam Giao... but none contain the word "North." We believe this is not a random coincidence but rather a deliberate human action. However, what that deliberate action is and why it is so, we can only speculate without a sufficiently convincing explanation.

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