“Right Bank of the Argun”: Evenki Place Names behind the Hànzì

I grew up in places with names like “Winnetka” and “Sewickley,” spellings no doubt based on mangled transliterations of old, even ancient Native American words. I vaguely recall that Sewickley meant “sweet water,” but no one seemed sure.

How many names of cities, mountains and rivers in China, I wondered, conceal their non-Han origins and meanings when written in Chinese characters (hànzì)?