“谭”“谈”的混用及其成因略论

On the Mixed Use of“tan(谭)”and“tan(谈)”and Its Causes

“谭”“谈”二字混用,在先秦时期已经出现,至明清屡见不鲜。两字之所以混用,原因之一是具有共同的义符“言”;原因之二是读音相同,这与大多数混用字的成因一致。不同的是,唐时为了避武宗李炎的讳,时人行文以“谭”代“谈”,后人沿用这种习惯,且自以为使用“谭”字典雅可观。今日也存在“谭”“谈”混用的情况,从汉字的通用性原则和社会属性考虑,如无必要,在表达“谈论,交谈”义时,应当使用“谈”字,不宜两字混用。

The mixed use of“tan(谭)”and“tan(谈)”appeared in the pre-Qin period and was common in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The reason why the two words are mixed,one of the reasons is that they have a common meaning“yan(word)”,the other reason is the same pronunciation,which is consistent with the cause of most mixed words.The difference is that in Tang Dynasty,in order to avoid the name taboo of Emperor Li Yan,people wrote“tan(谭)”instead of“tan(谈)”.Later generations followed this habit,and thought that the use of“tan(谭)”was elegant and considerable.Today,there are also cases where“tan(谭)”and“tan(谈)”are mixed.Considering the universality principle and social attributes of Chinese characters,if it is not necessary,the word“tan(谈)”should be used when expressing the meaning of“word”.