Chinese character variant: Uighur-Chinese sign
This is the Chinese character "an1" for safety on a sign somewhere near Turfan in Xinjiang. Now what do you think is going on here with this character? Is this a common variant or just a local phenomenon? Or perhaps a personal calligraphic habit of the person who wrote it?
For the sake of the context, I am also including below the picture of the sign where this Chinese character comes from originally. You can see that the top row is in Uighur, the lower in Chinese. Also because of the context there can be now doubt as to what the above character is. But without context it is not so easy to recognize it, is it?
A Chinese-Uighur sign from Turfan: "This place is dangerous, please watch out for safety."
Labels: Chinese street signs
3 Comments:
My vote is for "calligraphic habit," though I might expand "personal" to include other Uighur-writers and not just the one guy. All the elements of the standard character seem to be there, it's just written in an interesting style. Can it really be considered a variant for that, if the underlying structure is the same? (Or by looking for such a "structure" and ignoring the fluidity am I brainwashed by some idea of "standard"?)
I think Chinese lexicographers would consider this a variant even though the components and their overall mutual positioning is the same.
I have not actually considered myself that this could be an Uighur-specific form. But you are right, it must be. It is not an attested variant in any of the main character variant dictionaries so it is very likely to be a local form. Too bad I did not look for other examples of the same character while I was there.
I put in a second vote for calligraphic habit. All the elements are there and the downward "swoop" at the end that gives it a unique look is very reminiscent of the "draft script" style of the 女 element.
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