Sinification of Zhuang place names in Guangxi, China: a GIS-based spatial analysis approach

Zhuang, the largest minority language in China, is the label given to a variety of Tai languages and dialects spoken mostly in Guangxi. As a result of the process known as Sinification or Sinicisation stemming from the influx of Han soldiers and settlers moving in from many directions, but primarily the north, many Zhuang place names (toponyms) were changed to Han or pronounced with a Han accent or spelled in Chinese in such a way as to obscure the original Zhuang form. The objectives of this paper are to (1) construct a GIS database of toponyms in Guangxi at the township, county and prefecture levels from a comprehensive toponymical dictionary series of China; (2) analyse the spatial distribution of Zhuang vs non-Zhuang toponyms and its association with environmental factors; and (3) examine the historical evolution of toponyms to better understand the process of Sinification. Results show that Zhuang toponyms have the highest concentrations in the southwest Twin-Rivers Basin and the western mountainous area, and decline gradually towards the east. Zhuang toponyms are better preserved in areas that are more remote from major transport routes and major cities, and at higher ground level and with a somewhat steeper slope. Analysis of the limited number of toponyms with time stamps reveals that the Zhuang toponyms on contemporary maps are older in the west but more recent in the east. We speculate that in eastern Guangxi, with larger Han settlements for a longer period, older Zhuang toponyms were likely to be obliterated. The centroids of Zhuang and non-Zhuang toponyms converge towards the centre of Guangxi over time, reflecting the impact of increasingly integrated Sino-Zhuang settlement patterns.