variants.html

---
layout: default
title: Variants
name: variants.html
---

<div class="page-header">
  <h1>Variant forms of kanji in KanjiVG</h1>
</div>

<p>
  KanjiVG includes data on variations of characters
  and <a href="glossary.html#stroke-order">stroke order</a>. For
  example, when characters
  in <a href="glossary.html#schoolbook-fonts">the schoolbook style</a>
  deviate from <a href="glossary.html#kaisho">traditional kaisho</a>,
  there might be an extra file containing the kaisho version of the
  character. This file is named using the same Unicode value as the
  schoolbook style kanji, with the suffix <code>-Kaisho</code>. For
  example the kaisho variant of 島, <code>05cf6.svg</code> is
  named <code>05cfa-Kaisho.svg</code>.
</p>

<p>
  There are also different versions for different stroke orders.
</p>

<p><span class='undocumented'>
  Undocumented and unknown features, and notes on possible flaws in
  the data, are distinguished with a pale green background.</span>
</p>

<h2>Variant suffixes</h2>

<p>
  The following is a list of the file suffixes used to indicate
  variant forms. Not all of them have been described.
</p>

<!-- Alphabetical order -->
<dl>

<dt>
DgLst
</dt>
<dd>
Used for a stroke order variant of 癶.
</dd>

<dt>
Dg3
</dt>
<dd>
Used for a stroke order variant of 癶.
</dd>

<dt>Hyougai</dt>
<dd>
Variant forms of the character, called "hyougai"

(<ruby>表外<rt>ひょうがい</rt></ruby>) in
Japanese. <span class='undocumented'>These are often the characters
for different Unicode code points, or otherwise inconsistent.
</span>
</dd>

<dt>Hz</dt>
<dd>Horizontal</dd>

<dt>HzFst</dt>
<dd>
<b>H</b>ori<b>z</b>ontal <b>F</b>ir<b>st</b> stroke order
</dd>

<dt>HzFstLeRi</dt>
<dd>
Horizontal First, Left to Right stroke order
</dd>

<dt>HzFstRiLe</dt>
<dd>
Horizontal First, Right to Left stroke order
</dd>

<dt>HzFstVtLst</dt>
<dd>
Horizontal First, Vertical Last
</dd>
<dt>HzLst</dt>
<dd>
Horizontal Last
</dd>
<dt>Insatsu</dt>
<dd>
Printed form (<ruby>印刷<rt>いんさつ</rt></ruby>), where it differs
from the schoolbook format. <span class='undocumented'>This is used
inconsistently.</span>
</dd>
<dt>Jinmei</dt>
<dd>
Versions of the character used for names, which appear in
the <a href="glossary.html#jinmei">Jinmei</a>
list. <span class='undocumented'>In practice these often refer to
different Unicode code points than the ones given.</span>
</dd>
<dt>Kaisho</dt>
<dd>
Kaisho variant. In practice this usually seems to mean something like
月 or 日 with a shorter middle stroke which doesn't go all the way to
the right side of the element.
</dd>
<dt>Le</dt>
<dd>
Left
</dd>
<dt>LeFst</dt>
<dd>
Left First
</dd>
<dt>MdLst</dt>
<dd>
Middle Last
</dd>
<dt>MidFst</dt>
<dd>
Middle First
</dd>
<dt>NoDot</dt>
<dd>
Used for a variant of 饗 only.
</dd>
<dt>Ri</dt>
<dd>
Right
</dd>
<dt>Ten3</dt>
<dd>
These characters all contain a 必 element, with the strokes in a
different order than usual.
</dd>
<dt>TenLst</dt>
<dd>
These characters all contain a 卵 element, with the centre right
shortest stroke coming last in the stroke order.
</dd>
<dt>Vt</dt>
<dd>Vertical</dd>
<dt>Vt4</dt>
<dd>
These characters contain a variant stroke order with a vertical as the
fourth stroke.
</dd>
<dt>Vt6</dt>
<dd>
These characters contain a variant stroke order with a vertical as the
sixth stroke.
</dd>
<dt>VtFst</dt>
<dd>
Vertical First
</dd>
<dt>VtFstRiLe</dt>
<dd>
Vertical First Right to Left
</dd>
<dt>VtLst</dt>
<dd>
Vertical Last
</dd>
</dl>