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In:Basilio Brollo’s Dictionarium sinico-latinum (Chinese-Latin dictionary): A critical edition of the manuscript Rinuccini 22e (Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana)
Gabriele Tola
[Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 134] 2026
► pp. 76–95

Chapter 5
Sino-Franciscan landscapes

Toponyms and selected geographical terms in Brollo’s Dictionarium sinico-latinum — A case study

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Abstract
This chapter, based on a preliminary study of the original contribution of the Franciscan missionary Basilio Brollo (1648–1704) to the documentation of Chinese toponyms and geographical terms in his Dictionarium sinico-latinum (Brollo 1694, 1699), first provides an overview of the most significant kingdom, province, and city toponyms included in the dictionary, presenting their Chinese, romanised, and Latin forms. It then highlights the noteworthy religious and historical information Brollo chose to include in his work, underscoring his original effort in shaping a lexicographical masterpiece. Secondly, the chapter compares selected terms related to Chinese provinces and Catholic ecclesiastical territories described by Brollo with corresponding toponymic entries in the work of Dominican missionary Francisco Díaz (1640–1641), reaffirming Brollo’s effort to represent a culturally and religiously influenced topography of China. The article concludes by discussing Brollo’s distinctive (and original) contribution to the representation of seventeenth-century Chinese geographical knowledge, emphasising the cultural richness and innovative character of his work.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Toponyms in Brollo’s 1694 Dictionarium sinico-latinum: Mapping a spiritual, cultural, and lexicological landscape
    • 2.2Names of provinces, capital cities, and ecclesiastical seats
  • 3.A preliminary comparison of selected toponyms in the works of Brollo and Díaz (1640–1641 ca.)
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
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