An Analysis of the Cultural Connotation within Guiqiong Nomenclature Modes

Yang Xiaoyan

【Abstracts】Starting from Guiqiong peoples names， the thesis makes a brief introduction of Guiqiong peoples names， analyzes the hidden culture within Guiqiong peoples names from the perspectives of linguistics and folklore in details.

【Keywords】Guiqiong; peoples names; cultural connotation; social functions

【作者簡介】 Yang Xiaoyan，Faculty of Arts， Sichuan Minzu College。

‘There are specialized terms used to reflect the cultural content of a particular society in the vocabulary of any nation. And peoples names are a sort of special terms that are utilized the most widely with the highest frequency of use.

I. Guiqiong peoples names

The full name of a Guiqiong persons name should contain a structure of ‘a house name plus human name， and the house name of a Guiqiong person is equal to the surname of a Han nationality person. Guiqiongs human name goes after the house name， the frequency to address and say it in oral communication is rather high， generally; its performed mainly with the structure of ‘five elements/Bodhisattva name / Chinese Zodiac plus name plus auspicious words.

Ⅱ. Cultural connotation within peoples names

1. Religious influence is as plain as the nose on ones face

（1）Centralization of naming rights——local Kumbar. Based on the birthdate of a delivery woman or child， the Kumbar relies on the Eight Diagrams to measure and deduce， concludes the direction， and then names it. The naming right that the Kumbar possesses ia partly determined by the religious position within the ethnic group. On the other hand， the method to calculate and deduce a name is inherited by the Kumbar from generation to generation， which only the Kumbar and Anqu can learn.

（2）Religion within the naming method--- Taoism and Buddhism

1）Tibetan Buddhism. First of all， the local Guiqiong Kumbar learns religion from local lamas， who go to Tibetan area to the west of Zhedo Mountain in Kangding City for expertise learning. Secondly， Guiqiong people believe in that there is a Bodhisattva watching and guarding every hill， hence the name of a Bodhisattva in each direction enters the scope of naming a person.Thirdly， being named after Buddhist utensils.

2）Taoism of the Han nationality. It is necessary to be calculated and deduced by the Kumbar to name a person in Guiqiong， and the calculation and deduction method is based on the the Eight Diagrams principle of the Han nationality. After learning about the birthdate and the eight characters of a horoscope of a delivery woman or child， it can be specifically learned which direction and which one of the five elements or Bodhisattva it corresponds to through the Eight Diagrams calculation and deduction.

2.Strong sense of national identity and family consciousness

（1） National identity sense. The sense of national identity of Guiqiong people is very strong， which is originated from the uncertainty of ethnic property on one hand， and from its rather small population on the other hand. Within Guiqiong， an authentic name of Guiqiong can always shorten the distance between them.

（2） Family clan consciousness. Guiqiong lives in lofty hills and towering mountains， with uneasy transportation， old-fashioned producing modes and relatively backward production capacity， hence working in the unit of a family is able to increase the ability to fight against nature， widen activity scope to some extent， and take obvious dominant position in social life， and occupy good social resources.

3.Obvious psychological pursuit of good fortune and avoiding disasters

（1） Pursuit of good fortune. In the aspect of peoples names that are used with highest usage frequency， Guiqiong people are very careful and serious， making sure that naming is good enough， that is， names uttered at the local place must contain ‘auspicious words. Specifically， there must be ‘good meaning in every name， as shown in the table below. such as tshei55 li55.

（2） To avoid disasters. There likely exists the state of restriction or checking relation in five elements when a baby is born， when it needs special attention to naming， which is called stemmed fate in Guiqiong. Only if the mother has stemmed fate ， her childs name must carry the stemmed. Guiqiong people think that stemmed fate carries disasters with itself， and disasters could be removed if the name is added with stemmed.

4. Influences of Tibetan culture and the Han culture in succession

In the aspect of language， there are abundant loanwords from Tibetan language in Guiqiong， such as m?35tu?53 （flower）. In Guiqion peoples names， there are many words very similar with the sound and meaning of Tibetan language， besides the influence of Buddhism， the author assumes that a lot of words in Guiqiong peoples names come exactly from Tibetan language，such as l 55 mu55。

Nowadays， Guiqiong people move constantly from high mountains to river valley where the Han people is dense. There are still cases of jointly utilizing the Han name and Guiqiong name among Guiqiong adults and elders， but a lot of Guiqiong children are casually named as the Han people does， without Guiqiong name.

Ⅲ. Social function of human name

1. Family marriage

Within Guiqiong ethnic group， its not permitted for persons with the same house name to get married， especially in the case of that can be traced back to blood kinship.

Secondly， family union is emphasized in marriage of Guiqiong people， especially its regarded as megamerger to unite by marriage between big family clans， while children in small families dont have advantages in marital issue.

2.Social status

The ‘human name in a Guiqiong name can play a role of differentiation in social groups， its an addressing notation that one undertakes， standing for ones social status. As mentioned above， the ‘house name within a Guiqiong name is a sign of a family clan， whose social status is embodied by the ‘house name.

3.Inheritance of national language and culture

The language that is spoken is the most direct expression of culture. Starting from naming， various explanations of nomenclature modes， choice of naming figures and corresponding pursuit for fortune and avoiding disasters， Guiqiong peoples names as well as the irreplaceable important position and role of peoples name enable us to decode ample ethnic culture of Guiqiong.

Being a miniature of Guiqiong culture， Guiqiong peoples names contain the religious belief， psychological tendency and ethnic family ideas of Guiqiong people.

References：

[1]Dongzhu Cairang： A Study on Tibetan Nomenclature Culture [J]. Journal of Xizang Minzu University， 2016， （7）.

[2]Compilation team of Kangding Teachers College for Nationalities： Ganzi Ethnography[M]. Sichuan： Contemporary China Publishing House， 1994.