Why is character simplification sometimes so inconsistant?

user76423
March 28, 2010, 09:26 PM posted in I Have a Question

專 simplifies to 专, 傳 to 传, 轉 to 转 and 磚 to 砖.

But why is 團 simplified to 团? 

Does anybody here knows something about the reason for this?

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changye
March 29, 2010, 12:23 AM

Hi hape2

The two characters “专” and “团” are both made based on their traditional cursive handwritings. “才” in “团” originates in the lower part of “專”, and “专” is based on a cursive form of “專”. The cursive forms have a long history, and this is the reason why they were adopted as the simplified characters of “專” and “團” in 1950s. It looks inconsistent but has a reason.

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user76423
March 29, 2010, 08:19 AM

Thank you, changye!