浅议“垄断”的词义演变

On the Development of Chinese Word “垄断”(Monopoly)

"垄断"在古代汉语中又写作"陇断"、"龙断"。"陇断"最早见于《列子》,其义当为"高丘隔绝";"龙断"的最早用例见于《孟子》,其义已发展为"独立的高丘",并由典故引申而有"把持和独占"之义,是"垄断"一词现代意义的源头。从三词在不同古代文献中的用例可见,明代以后"垄断"逐步取代"陇断"、"龙断",其"把持和独占"之义被广泛使用。

In ancient Chinese language,the word'垄断' was written as the words'龙断'and'陇断'in the articles of Pre-Qin period.Firstly seen in the works of Liezi,'陇断' meant ‘the hills isolate’.The word '龙断'in The Works of Mencius meant‘separated hills’,and then developed into the meaning of‘monopolize’because of a story,which could be seen as the origin of present meaning.Seen from the examples of the three words in different ancient literature,'陇断'and '龙断'were replaced by '垄断' gradually after the Ming Dynasty,and then the meaning of ‘monopolize’has been used widely.