¬ Exploring Taiwan's history, culture and languages through its place names
Saturday 5 February 2022
Beitou (北投) District, Taipei City
The pre-Han-Chinese name for this area was Ki-pataw, though whether this was in the Plains Aboriginal language (Abe Akiyoshi: "Studies on Taiwan's Place Names" 1938), or Ketagalan (Tsai Pei-hui et al.: "Taiwan's Old Place Names" 2004) or Basai (Wikipedia) needs confirming. All agree, however, that the pataw part meant "shamaness", though whether this was due to:
i) it having been the former abode of a shamaness (Abe/ Tsai), or
ii) the sulfurous fumaroles in the local hills emitting noxious gases were caaused by shamanesses (Wikipedia),
is also up for debate.
Pataw was transliterated as 北投 (Hoklo: Pak-tau; Mdn. Beitou; lit. "Northern Throw").
Copyright Jiyue Publications 2022
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