Differences

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--- references [2026/02/15 16:36] – [References] Add note when to not use references kbaiko
+++ references [2026/04/21 02:19] (current) – [also written, see also] kbaiko
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ===== Special references ======
-These are special types of references that have their own syntax. If using this syntax, the referenced word **does** need to be in CC-CEDICT.
+These are special types of references that have their own syntax. In most cases, the referenced word **does** need to be in CC-CEDICT.
 ==== variant of ====
@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 騏麟 骐麟 [[qi2lin2]] /(Chinese mythology) qilin/(old) giraffe/
 </code>
+=== Which entry is the variant? ===
 We put the definition on the more common word and the "variant of ..." syntax on the less common ones. We follow this guideline even if the less common word is more "correct" than the more common one. For instance,
@@ Line 55: / Line 57: @@
 some official sources and dictionaries may consider 杧 to be the correct form, but it is far less common than 芒 in everyday usage, so we consider it the variant.
+For single-character entries, it can be helpful to consult the 通用规范汉字表, specifically the first appendix which has an official table of simplified, traditional, and variant characters. Each row of the table lists a simplified character, the corresponding traditional character(s) (if any), and variant characters (if any).
+Here are some examples of how the information in the table is represented within CC-CEDICT:
+- Row 83 indicates 专 is a simplified character, 專 is the corresponding traditional character, and 耑 is a variant
+<code>
+專 专 [[zhuan1]] /.../
+耑 专 [[zhuan1]] /variant of 專|专[zhuan1]/
+</code>
+- Row 84 indicates 丐 is a simplified character, there is no traditional character, and 匃, 匄 are variants
+<code>
+丐 丐 [[gai4]] /.../
+匃 丐 [[gai4]] /variant of 丐[gai4]/
+匄 丐 [[gai4]] /variant of 丐[gai4]/
+</code>
+- Row 309 indicates 汇 is a simplified character, 匯 and 彙 are corresponding traditional characters, and 滙 is a variant, but only for 匯
+<code>
+匯 汇 [[hui4]] /.../
+滙 汇 [[hui4]] /variant of 匯|汇[hui4]/
+彙 汇 [[hui4]] /.../
+</code>
+Variant characters that do not exist in the table should be written with the character in both the simplified and traditional section:
+- Row 159 indicates 凤 is a simplified character, 鳳 is the corresponding traditional character, and there are no variants. However, 鳯 is another way of writing 鳳, but it does not officially simplify to 凤
+<code>
+鳳 凤 [[feng4]] /.../
+鳯 鳯 [[feng4]] /variant of 鳳|凤[feng4]/
+</code>
+The 通用规范汉字表 and the examples above cannot be followed blindly and serves more as a general guideline for CC-CEDICT. For one, note that some traditional characters only correspond to the simplified form in certain pronunciations or certain senses of the meaning (the 通用规范汉字表 does not tell you which ones).
+Secondly, CC-CEDICT convention is that traditional characters correspond to Taiwanese usage, while simplified characters correspond to mainland usage. It's possible that the 通用规范汉字表 says X is the "proper" traditional form and Y is the variant, but if Y is more commonly used in Taiwan, we may list X as the variant and Y in the main entry.
 ==== see ====
@@ Line 97: / Line 139: @@
 Note: Historically this was written as "erhua variant of", but as of v2, is now written as "erhua form of". This change was made because "variant" indicates the two entries have the same pinyin.
-==== contracted form of ====
+==== contracted form of, contracted variant of ====
 A fairly rare reference - used when the referenced characters have been merged into a single character.
@@ Line 105: / Line 147: @@
 嘦 嘦 [[jiao4]] /(dialect) contracted form of 只要[zhi3yao4]/
 孬 孬 [[nao1]] /(dialect) contracted form of 不好[bu4hao3]/
+圕 圕 [[tuan1]] /library (contracted form of 圖書館|图书馆[tu2shu1guan3])/
+</code>
+A small number of entries use "variant of" because the pinyin is the same
+<code>
+瓸 瓸 [[{bai3wa3}]] /(old) contracted variant of 百瓦[bai3wa3]/
+瓰 瓰 [[{fen1wa3}]] /(old) contracted variant of 分瓦[fen1wa3]/
+瓱 瓱 [[{hao2wa3}]] /(old) contracted variant of 毫瓦[hao2wa3]/
+瓩 瓩 [[{qian1wa3}]] /(old) contracted variant of 千瓦[qian1wa3]/
+瓧 瓧 [[{shi2wa3}]] /(old) contracted variant of 十瓦[shi2wa3]/
 </code>
@@ Line 110: / Line 163: @@
 See the "Meaningless bound forms" section of [[bound_forms]]
+==== abbr. for ====
+Indicates the entry is an abbreviation. These should always be written in the following format, with the definition first and the abbreviation after, in ()'s:
+<code>
+獨顯 独显 [[du2xian3]] /(computing) discrete GPU; dedicated GPU (abbr. for 獨立顯卡|独立显卡[du2li4 xian3ka3])/
+</code>
+It's not required that the unabbreviated entry exists in CC-CEDICT, but if it does, the definitions should match.
 ====== Deprecated ======
-==== also written, see also ====
+==== also written ====
+Usually corresponds to "variant of" or "see" depending on whether the pinyin is the same or different.
+==== see also ====
+A rather vague cross-reference that doesn't explain why the reader should check the reference. Similar to "also written", this usually should be either "variant of" or see", but could refer to another entry for many reasons and is therefore not preferred.
+==== abbr. to ====
-Usually corresponds to "variant of" or "see" depending on whether the pinyin is the same or different. When updating an entry to v2, these references should be converted to either "variant of" or "see".
+A small number of entries use the "abbr. to" syntax which can be thought of as the opposite of "abbr. for". In the v2 conversion, we're removing this syntax because it is very rare in comparison to "abbr. for", and unnecessary if the abbreviated entry refers to the full entry.