托拉斯 (tuō lā sī) — (economic) trust, monopoly cartel | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A loanword for a large industrial trust or monopoly cartel — a business combination that dominates a market. In modern Chinese it most often appears in 反托拉斯法 ("antitrust law").

noun

(economic) trustmonopoly cartel

Examples

托拉斯。
Zhè ge tuō lā sī kòng zhì le quán guó shí yóu shì chǎng.
This trust controls the national oil market.
托拉斯。
Zhèng fǔ chū tái le fǎn tuō lā sī fǎ lái xiàn zhì lǒng duàn.
The government introduced antitrust laws to limit monopolies.
，托拉斯。
Shí jiǔ shì jì mò, měi guó chū xiàn le xǔ duō dà tuō lā sī.
At the end of the 19th century, many large trusts emerged in the United States.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

托拉斯 spells a foreign business term for a trust; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

乇

乇tuō托tuō

Same sound today

托 is built from 手 (hand) and 乇, which gives the sound tuō.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

立

立lì拉lā

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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