12794
I was at a Japanese class and saw what I thought was a mistake, or at best
shorthand for the character [傘]{かさ} -> 仐 I thought the four ([人]{ひと}) had been
forgotten but my Japanese teacher told me this was regular Japanese like how
other archaic characters get simplified (國 -> [国]{こく}, see [Wiki page
here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjitai)). I am not convinced so if
anyone could share more solid evidence on the validity of the character or
your own opinions?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-12T14:09:08.403
12793
2013-09-12T15:16:45.393
2013-09-12T15:08:40.387
3528
3528
question
kanji
Shorthand for [傘]{kasa} or normal use?　仐
It isn't a 新字体{しんじたい} ("new kanji form"). Strictly speaking, 新字体 refers to a
specific set of official simplifications which you can find in the
[常用漢字表](http://www.bunka.go.jp/bunkashingikai/soukai/pdf/kaitei_kanji_toushin.pdf).
For example, the 新字体 of 鬪 is 闘, replacing the _broken gate_ radical 鬥（とうがまえ）
with the _gate_ radical 門（もんがまえ）.

In contrast, this is an _unofficial_ simplification. This sort of
simplification is usually called a 略字（りゃくじ）, meaning _abbreviated character_.
You can see other examples of 略字 on
[Wikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%95%A5%E5%AD%97), which has the
following chart:

![略字 chart taken from Wikipedia](https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHRn5.png)

Since none of these simplifications are official, you won't find them in
official materials such as the 常用漢字表, and they don't count as 新字体. You may see
them in handwriting, or you may even see them in fonts or other printed
material. And since they're unofficial, there is no complete list; people may
invent new non-standard forms whenever they wish.

However, you may be able to find some resources which identify these
simplifications as 略字. In this case, you may consult the Japanese
[Wiktionary](http://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%82%98), which helpfully lists 仐
as a 略字; or the English [Wiktionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BB%90),
which tells you that it's a non-standard form; or, you may consult
[Unicode](http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=4ED0),
which defines it as "(J) non-standard form of 傘 U+5098 傘, umbrella, parasol,
parachute".

The biggest difference, perhaps, is that official 新字体 simplifications are
considered the standard form of a character, so you'll find them used most of
the time. Unofficial 略字, on the other hand, are not considered standard forms.
While they're not uncommon, you'll probably see them quite a bit less often
than the official forms.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-12T15:16:45.393
12794
2013-09-12T15:16:45.393
12793
answer