Research On Naming Of Chongqing Place Names Based On RSM Model

A place name is a proper name given to a geographical entity by humans.It is a cultural symbol formed by the local people after understanding the location and physical characteristics of the place.And it reflects the interaction between people and the material world.However,few studies have risen to cognitive mechanisms for more in-depth discussions of place names.There is a relative lack of analysis of closed corpus and providing data support.This article mainly adopts qualitative research methods and appropriate quantitative research.From the perspective of cognitive sociolinguistics,this paper is based on the cognitive reference point model,salience theory,and conceptual metonymy and emphasizes social and cultural factors.And then constructs an RSM model(R is reference point model,S is salience theory,and M is conceptual metonymy)with strong explanatory power for place name naming mechanism.Based on this model,three research questions are proposed as follows: 1.What are the naming types of Chongqing place names? 2.What is the cognitive mechanism of naming in Chongqing place names? And 3.What are the factors that affect the naming of Chongqing place names? In this study,200 place names in the nine districts of the main city of Chongqing are used to create a closed corpus to study the naming mechanism.This study found that Chongqing place names based on the RSM model mainly have five naming types and based on different naming types,and there are eight salient elements behind the Chongqing place names naming,and the cognitive mechanism of naming is mainly conceptual metonymy based on these salient elements.In addition,the naming of Chongqing place names is deeply influenced by Chinese traditional culture,Chongqing local culture,and historical events.Studying place names from the perspective of cognitive sociolinguistics can not only help understand the cognitive mechanism behind the Chongqing place name naming but also have the significance of showing the social history and culture and Chongqing folk customs in Chongqing place names.