Geographical distribution of certain toponyms in the Samguk Sagi

Abstract

Kim Busik’s Samguk Sagi 三国史記, History of the Three Kingdoms, dating from 1145 A.D., is renowned for including Japanese toponyms in the Korean peninsula and the north of Yalujiang district (modern Liaoning and Jilin Provinces). Kim’s work recorded the older, archaic toponyms before they were converted into sinicized (i.e. expressed with Chinese words) place names with two Chinese characters in 757 A.D. by the order of King Kyeongdeok. This paper maps specific words included in the place names of 783 locations for which the corresponding present places are evident. The following were words examined: (1) ‘river’ and its related words; (2) ‘valley’; (3) ‘mountain’ and ‘ridge’; and (4) ‘city’ and ‘burg’. Japonic-sourced toponyms are typically distributed in the central and northern areas of the Yalu River, primarily in the district of Koguryŏ; however, they go beyond these regions. The use of Chinese loanwords is noted in the southern area, where determining which language was spoken is difficult. In a town near Seoul, the stem of the toponym belongs to the Korean language, whereas the unit word belongs to the Japonic language. This usage may be attributed to bilingualism, whereby Korean-speaking inhabitants used their own language for the stem of the place name. Mongolic and/or Tungusic loanwords are also found. In some cases, determining the language origin of the current toponyms is difficult. Therefore, the minute geographical distribution of the origin languages is displayed word by word. These toponyms reflect the traces of indigenous languages and reveal that Japonic-speaking people still dwelled in the central area of the peninsula and in the northern area of the Yalu River at that period.