Overlapping characters and Simplified Chinese characters

Oct 6, 2024#s69

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In classical Chinese texts, the symbol "𖿣" is often used to indicate reduplication, while in cursive script it appears as "〻" and is standardized as "々." Another theory suggests it derives from the cursive form of the variant character "仝." This "reduplication symbol" has been used in the simplification of characters, such as transforming "棗" to "枣" and "饞" to "馋." In Japanese, the character "澀" is simplified to "渋," where the lower part consists of two reduplication symbols, indicating a "three-reduplication" structure. The phonetic component "毚" is a compound of "㲋" and "兔," possibly reflecting cunning. Thus, "涩谷" is the correct form rather than "涉谷," as the simplified form of "涉" is "渉."

In classical texts, two short horizontal lines "𖿣" are often used to indicate reduplication.
In cursive script, it is written as "〻" and standardized as "々"¹.

In the simplification of Chinese characters, this "reduplication symbol" has been used multiple times, such as:

棗 → 枣
饞² → 馋

Outside of Chinese (in Japanese new characters):

澀 → 渋

The variant character "澁" for "澀" was simplified, where the four flying dots at the bottom actually represent two reduplication symbols, indicating that this is a "three-reduplication character" structure.

Another theory suggests it originated from the cursive form of the variant character "仝" for "同". ↩
The phonetic component "毚": a compound meaning derived from 㲋 and rabbit (actually from two rabbits), possibly implying cunningness — "Character Origins". ↩

Overlapping characters and Simplified Chinese characters

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