本論文主要是針對六堆地區的地名做研究，並探討六堆客家人由原鄉移民至臺灣後，在開墾過程中所發生種種地名上的演變，其對客家現在及未來發展的影響。 首先，由歷代占領臺灣的國家來看漢人何時定居臺灣南部？客家人在這段時間裡有多少人來台？何時開始在下淡水地區開墾？並從其祖籍及客家話在中國大陸分佈的區域來做推測。 再來是六堆名稱如何形成及被定位？至今六堆組織的功能為何？並從自然環境、與原住民的關係及行政區域的劃分來探討六堆的範圍。對地名的探討則是從村莊中部落小地名在地方開發、水利發展及分類械鬥中來論述，針對各個鄉鎮的情況做分門別類，每個地區地名來由並不完全相同，要從地名的特性上得知。 此外在語言及詞類上也可以看出地名受到的影響，除了原本講的四縣客家話外，在臺灣多元族群的環境及歷代不同統治者的交替下，語言受到的變化，並從詞語的分類去分析地名的來源。 最後，再由文學及文化上來做分析，從民間文學中去了解一般民眾的生活情況，當地人流傳的文學有哪些？藉此可以看出六堆客家人真誠樸實的一面，而文化上則是強調客家人在面對外族統治時的應變能力。 This thesis is about the changes of the geographical names of liuk tui area since the hakka people immigrated into Taiwan. And I try to find out the influence of the names to the hakka people’s development now and in the future. From the beginning, I want to figure out when the hakka people began to open ground in the area of Shia Tam Sui and how many of them came to Taiwan then. I find out the answers by judging the time when the hang people settled down in the southern Taiwan and by studying the distribution of the hakka people’s language and their original home in China. Then, there are researches of the ambit, function, becoming and the value of “liuk tui” in this thesis. I also investigate the source of the place names in the area of “liuk tui” by analyzing the events of regional development, water exploitation and armed fight. The geographical names were affected by the varieties and the changes of languages in Taiwan since there are many races living in Taiwan at the same time and Taiwan was governed by lots nations. In addition, I research the source of the names by analyzing the sort of terms. Finally, I research the life and the culture of the hakka people from the popular literature. The hakka people are kind and honest, and they value the ability of solving problems especially when they governed by other race.
