湄公河名称的含义及其所反映的民族历史变迁

湄公河这个名称是从英文MekongRiver一名音译过来的,而英文Mekong这个名称又是从傣泰语民族对这条河流的称呼MaeNamKhong这个名称演变过来的。如果按照傣泰语的发音来音译的话,MaeNamKhong应该译为“湄南公”。在傣泰语言中,“湄南”是河的意思,而“公(”Khong)这个词,则是从Krom或Khom这个词演变而来的。Krom或Khom是泰国的泰族和其他一些傣泰语民族对孟高棉语民族的一个泛称。因此,“湄南公”是湄公河的名称的含义,就是“孟高棉语民族的河”。作者认为,傣泰语民族把流经他们土地的这条河流叫做“孟高棉语民族的河”的原因在于:这个名称反映了一段湄公河流域民族变迁的历史,即孟高棉语民族是该流域的土著居民,至少是比傣泰民族要早的当地居民,而傣泰民族则是后来才迁到该河流域的民族。虽然孟高棉语民族和傣泰语民族在该流域的分布空间已发生了根本的置换,但湄公河这条河流的名称却为我们留下了一条反映这种民族历史变迁的重要线索。

The Meaning of the Name of Mekong River and the Historical Change of the Ethnic Groups It Reflects

Mekong is the best known name of the largest river in mainland Southeast Asia,it comes from a contraction of the Thai name for the river,Mae Nam Khong. What is the meaning of it? Some schlolars think it means Mother of the Waters,the author opines,however,that the word Mae Nam just means river while the word Khong comes from an ancient Tai word Krom or Khom for Mon-Khmar speaking peoples. The real meaning of Mekong River (Mae Nam Khong) is the River of Krom or Khom,e.g. the River of Mon-Khmer Speaking Peoples. Why does a river pass through the land distributed by Tai-speaking peoples have such a name? It is this name,the author opines,which reflects the historical reality of the eth-nic succession occurred in the valley of this river before,that is that Mon-Khmer are the native residents there,later on when the Tai came and controlled the valley of the river,they were replaced by Tai,the former had to retreat into the mountains or go further south,but the river has still been being called Mae Nam Khong by Tai,the new comer. So the name of this river is a reflexion of a history of ethnic succession.