<p>The character 幺 wasn't changed in the process of simplification. The picture below may help you understand the current relation between 麼, 麽, 幺 and 么 in light of their evolution. Note that grey nodes represent variant characters.</p>

<p>Historical character information is taken from <a href="http://ctext.org/shuo-wen-jie-zi/zh" rel="nofollow noreferrer">說文解字</a> (121) and <a href="http://ctext.org/kangxi-zidian/zhs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">康熙字典</a> (1716). Modern data about Hong Kong are based on the Longman Advanced Chinese Dictionary (2003, available in <a href="http://www.pleco.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pleco</a>), data about Taiwan are based on <a href="https://www.moedict.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MOEDict</a> (2016), created by the ROC Ministry of Education, and data about Mainland China are taken from the <a href="http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/att/att/site1/20130819/tygfhzb.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Table of General Standard Chinese Characters (通用规范汉字表)</a> (2014), which is an official document describing simplification.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bCrFQ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bCrFQ.png" alt="The evolution of 幺麼."></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-25T19:29:11.403Z
2016-08-26T07:19:50.287Z
2016-08-26T07:19:50.287Z
米好 '-'
<p>This question is regarding when 幺 appears in traditional Chinese.</p>

<p>What is the simplified variant of 幺?</p>

<p>I asked this question on the cantodict forums recently, and one member gave this excellent response:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?14,129472,129515#msg-129515" rel="nofollow">http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?14,129472,129515#msg-129515</a></p>

<p>But it's still not clear to me what the answer is.  I'm quite confused why so many online dictionaries seem to give 么 as the answer.  Could it be that simplification in Cantonese is different to simplification in Mandarin?</p>

<p>I found over 20 words in ABC Comprehensive Chinese Dictionary where the traditional contained 幺 and the simplified form uses 么. This is a consistent mapping in that dictionary.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-07T01:29:17.607Z
幺 and 么 is a troublesome pair because they look alike especially in ancient handwritten text.
Henry HO
<simplified-characters><cantonese><traditional-characters><traditional-vs-simplified>
Simplified variant of 幺?
# Simplified variant of 幺?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-06)

This question is regarding when 幺 appears in traditional Chinese.

What is the simplified variant of 幺?

I asked this question on the cantodict forums recently, and one member gave this excellent response:

<http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?14,129472,129515#msg-129515>

But it's still not clear to me what the answer is. I'm quite confused why so many online dictionaries seem to give 么 as the answer. Could it be that simplification in Cantonese is different to simplification in Mandarin?

I found over 20 words in ABC Comprehensive Chinese Dictionary where the traditional contained 幺 and the simplified form uses 么. This is a consistent mapping in that dictionary.

**Tags:** simplified-characters, cantonese, traditional-characters, traditional-vs-simplified
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 幺 and 么 is a troublesome pair because they look alike especially in ancient handwritten text.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-08-25. Score: 2

The character 幺 wasn't changed in the process of simplification. The picture below may help you understand the current relation between 麼, 麽, 幺 and 么 in light of their evolution. Note that grey nodes represent variant characters.

Historical character information is taken from [說文解字](http://ctext.org/shuo-wen-jie-zi/zh) (121) and [康熙字典](http://ctext.org/kangxi-zidian/zhs) (1716). Modern data about Hong Kong are based on the Longman Advanced Chinese Dictionary (2003, available in [Pleco](http://www.pleco.com)), data about Taiwan are based on [MOEDict](https://www.moedict.tw/) (2016), created by the ROC Ministry of Education, and data about Mainland China are taken from the [Table of General Standard Chinese Characters (通用规范汉字表)](http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/att/att/site1/20130819/tygfhzb.pdf) (2014), which is an official document describing simplification.

[![The evolution of 幺麼.](https://i.sstatic.net/bCrFQ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bCrFQ.png)


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