User:BD2412/Irregular Chinese

Pinyin characters with irregular transliterations

圕 pinyin túshūguǎn (tu2shu1guan3)

1. library

Usage notes

• This character was invented by a library sciences expert named Du Dingyou (杜定友) in 1914. He apparently invented the character because he felt that it was too much of a hassle to write the word for library using three Chinese characters. Instead, he suggested merging the three characters into one, hence 圖書館 became 圕. The pronunciation is identical to the more traditional way of writing library, making this one of the few multi-syllabic Chinese characters in Mandarin. However, it has yet to gain widespread acceptance as a legitimate Chinese character.

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瓩 pinyin qiānwǎ (qian1wa3)

1. kilowatt

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氵 pinyin shuǐ (shui3)

1. 三点水 (sāndiǎnshuǐ), a phonetic particle with no independent meaning, used in the construction of other characters.

嗯 pinyin ēn (en1), ng (ng4)

1. An onomatopoeic character representing a groan with the sound of ah or aah.

喵 pinyin miāo (miao1)

1. An onomatopoeic character representing the mew of the cat; meow.

External links

• Chinese Modal Particles, Interjections & Onomatopes
• Chinese onomatopoeia.