台 or 臺? Traditional Chinese Character Variants

For Taiwan, the standard form is 臺 and 台 is a variant of it. The Ministry of Education (教育部) dictionary lists 臺 (tái, ㄊㄞˊ) as the headword and describes 台 as its 異體字 (yìtǐzì, variant form). In daily life, both are everywhere. Formal and educational writing prefers 臺, and handwriting, shop signs and company names often use the shorter 台.

The same pattern holds for several other pairs: 裡 over 裏, 麵 over 麪, 為 over 爲. 週 and 周 are a different case, where the dictionary has both and accepts either for some senses. This article sets out which is which, based on what the MOE dictionary says, so you can choose one form and write it consistently.

What “standard form” means in Taiwan

Taiwan’s MOE publishes a list of standard character forms. The 常用國字標準字體表 (the list of standard forms for common characters) was announced in September 1982, followed by lists for less common and rare characters in 1982 and 1983. The MOE dictionary’s entry for 標準字體 gives these dates. Taiwan’s own count for the common list is 4,808 characters. These are the shapes taught in school, and the headwords in the MOE dictionary follow them.

A variant (異體字) is another way of writing the same character that the standard list does not adopt. The dictionary marks these with the line 「某」的異體字 (“a variant of X”). That does not make a variant a mistake. It means that if you need to pick one, pick the standard.

The MOE dictionary even defines 簡體字 (simplified characters) as a kind of variant, a form with fewer strokes than the standard one. For a learner, the useful picture has three layers: Taiwan standard forms, other Traditional variants, and Simplified forms.

台 and 臺

臺 is the standard form for the platform, stage and counter sense, for the measure word of machines (一臺電視), and for Taiwan itself (臺灣). The MOE dictionary also has a separate headword 台 with its own meanings: a place-name character as in 台州 (Tāizhōu, in China), the old pronoun “I” read yí (ㄧˊ), and a surname. The entry ends with the note that 台 is also a variant of 臺.

So 台 is a real character on its own, which is partly why it is so common as shorthand. Some practical points:

• Formal and school writing. Write 臺灣, 臺北, 臺中. A 2010 report in the Liberty Times said the Ministry decided that its own documents would use 臺灣 and asked schools and textbook publishers to follow. The same report said that writing 台灣 would not cost marks on an exam. That was a news report from 2010, so check any rule that matters for a specific form or exam.
• Signs, brands and everyday writing. Both appear. The same report said the Ministry had no plan to change road signs or shopfront signs.
• Typing. Type the Zhuyin ㄊㄞˊ and look at the candidate list. Most Zhuyin input methods show both 臺 and 台 among the candidates, so you can choose by context. The guide to typing Traditional Chinese covers input methods.
• Reading Mainland text. In Simplified, 台 is the only form and stands for three Traditional characters: 臺 (platform), 檯 (table) and 颱 (typhoon). See one Simplified character, several Traditional ones.

裡 and 裏

The MOE headword is 裡 (lǐ, ㄌㄧˇ), with the entry 「裏」是「裡」的異體字. Both mean inside: 這裡 (here), 那裡 (there), 裡面 (inside), 夜裡 (at night). If you learn one form, learn 裡. Know that 裏 exists, because you will see it in older books and in Traditional text from outside Taiwan.

週 and 周

This pair is not a standard-versus-variant case. The MOE dictionary has a separate headword for each, and in several senses it accepts both. The headwords show a pattern:

• Week, cycle, periodical: the headwords use 週: 週末 (zhōumò, weekend), 週期 (zhōuqí, cycle), 週刊 (zhōukān, weekly magazine). The 周 entry also gives 周末 as an example of the week sense.
• Anniversary: both 週年 and 周年 are headwords (zhōunián).
• Thorough, all around, the dynasty, the surname: the headwords use 周: 周圍 (zhōuwéi, surroundings), 周到 (zhōudào, thoughtful, thorough), 周朝 (the Zhou dynasty). Only 周 is used for the dynasty and the surname.

A safe rule that matches the dictionary is to write 週 for week and cycle words and 周 for the dynasty, surnames, 周到 and 周圍. This article does not rank how often each form appears on schedules and signs.

著 and 着

Simplified writing splits 著 and 着 by reading: 着 is used for the particle zhe and for zháo and zhuó, and 著 stays for zhù (著名, to be famous). In Taiwan, one character does all of it. The MOE dictionary has 著 with five readings, and 着 has no entry of its own. So write 著 throughout:

Reading	Example
zhù (ㄓㄨˋ)	著名 (zhùmíng, famous), 名著 (míngzhù, a famous book)
zhe (˙ㄓㄜ)	坐著 (zuòzhe, sitting), 說著話 (shuōzhe huà, talking)
zháo (ㄓㄠˊ)	睡著 (shuìzháo, fall asleep)
zhuó (ㄓㄨㄛˊ)	附著 (fùzhuó, to adhere)
zhāo (ㄓㄠ)	著急 (zhāojí, anxious; the MOE lists this reading)

The consequence for a learner: if you learned Simplified first, the 着 you know is 著 here, and 著 becomes the form for all five readings.

Other pairs you will meet

The MOE dictionary lists the right-hand form as a variant of the left, which is the standard:

Standard	Variant	Example
臺 (tái)	台	臺灣
裡 (lǐ)	裏	這裡
麵 (miàn)	麪	麵包, 麵條
峰 (fēng)	峯	高峰
線 (xiàn)	綫	電線
群 (qún)	羣	人群
溫 (wēn)	温	溫度
床 (chuáng)	牀	起床
為 (wèi, wéi)	爲	因為
啟 (qǐ)	啓	啟動
衛 (wèi)	衞	衛生

Some of these look almost identical, such as 為 and 爲, and your keyboard may produce either depending on the input method or font. When you can choose, choose the standard form in the left column.

Which one should you write?

1. Learn the MOE standard form first. It is the form in the MOE dictionary and the one a Taiwanese reader will take as correct without thinking.
2. Recognise the common variants. 台 and 裏 will appear in the wild.
3. Be consistent inside one piece of writing. Mixing 臺 and 台 in a single document is the thing readers notice.
4. For forms with two accepted spellings, such as 週 and 周, follow the list above and choose one.

Zhong teaches Traditional characters first, with handwriting and stroke checking.

Related reading

• Traditional Chinese characters
• One Simplified character, several Traditional ones
• Traditional vs Simplified Chinese
• Reading Traditional Chinese characters