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Ambiguities in Chinese character simplification

A number of Chinese characters are simplified-traditional multipairings (), which do not have a one-to-one mapping between their simplified and traditional forms.

This is usually because the simplification process merged two or more distinct characters into one. In most cases, these traditional characters are homonyms, having the same pronunciation but different meanings. As a result, converting text from simplified to traditional characters is difficult to automate, especially in the case of common characters such as Simplified: ⇄ Traditional: (behind, empress), S: ⇄ T: (table, clock), S: ⇄ T: (traitor, rape) and more.

In a smaller number of cases, a single traditional character is mapped to multiple simplified characters for different uses, which occurs because the simplification scheme contains a list of bespoke simplifications for certain heavily-used meanings.

The following is an exhaustive list of all characters whose simplified and traditional forms do not map in a one-to-one manner. Simplified characters are prefixed with "S", and traditional characters with "T".

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2 to 1

　 　

Special cases

  • , :
  • yāo (tiny) is written or in simplified and traditional.
  • me (particle expressing ) and ma (interrogative particle) are written (but not ) in simplified and or in traditional.
  • mó (insignificant) is written in simplified and or in traditional.
  • , :
  • le (completed action marker) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • liǎo (bright, understand) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • liào (to watch from a height or distance) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • shí (ten, miscellaneous) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • shén (what) is written in simplified and or in traditional.
  • shèn (extremely, exceed) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • huǒ (meals) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • huǒ (partner, combine) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • huǒ (many) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • yú (first person pronoun) is written in simplified and traditional.
  • yú (to remain) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • Yú (a surname) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • , :
  • jiè (to lend) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • jiè (to rely on) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • jiè (pad, mat) and jí (numerous and disorderly) are written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • gān (implication) and gàn (to defend) are written in both simplified and traditional.
  • gān (dry) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • gàn (main part) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • qián (first of the bagua or first hexagram of the I Ching) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • zhēng (journey, campaign) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • zhēng (punish, seek, characteristic, levy) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • zhǐ (fourth note of the Chinese pentatonic scale) is written in both simplified and traditional.
  • , :
  • è (evil) and wù (to hate) are written in simplified and in traditional.
  • ě (in ěxÄ«n (nauseous)) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • è (oxygen) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • , :
  • zhù (boehmeria) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • níng (limonene) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • , :
  • píng (silvery wormwood) is written in simplified and traditional.
  • píng (in píngguǒ (apple)) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • pín (four-leaf clover) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • , :
  • zhōng (bell) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • zhōng (vessel for alcohol) is written in simplified and in traditional.
  • Zhōng (a surname) is written in simplified and in traditional.

References

External links