The inconsistency of the 又 simplification

We have seen some inconsistencies in the simplification process in previous posts. Today we are going to look at characters whose parts were simplified to 又. 又(you4) is a character that already exists in the traditional script. In addition to this, 又 is already used as a character component, e.g., 友.


Here is an incomplete list of such simplifications.

  1. 堇 was simplified to 又.

    又 漢


  2. 雚 was simplified to 又.

    又 歡


  3. 壴 was simplified to 又.

    又 樹


  4. 堇 was simplified to 又.

    又 僅


  5. 䖒 was simplified to 又.

    又 戲


  6. 睪 was simplified to 又.

    又 釋


  7. 奚 was simplified to 又.

    又 雞


  8. 登 was simplified to 又.

    又 鄧


  9. 鳳 was simplified to 凤.

    又 鳳


  10. 攴 (often looks like 攵 when on the right) was simplified to 又.

    又 敘


  11. 對 was simplified to 对.

    又 對


  12. Some characters with repeated parts had the bottom half converted to 又.

    又 轟


  13. Some characters had entire sections changed to 又.

    又 聖


As you can see, there is a lot of inconsistency here. Again, this is not a complete list, these are just some of the ones that I know of and was able to find. With all of these variations, I believe  it makes it more difficult to remember a character’s etymology and how it should be pronounced.


Happy learning!