過 - right/top component order?

[naeglerian]

A quick question-

For 過, I have seen the right/top part of the character reversed, with the inner part "facing" to the left instead of the right (sorry, don't recall the formal way to describe this, and I can't seem to draw it with text).

Is this a variant? Or is it just wrong? PlecoDict has it this way (reversed), as does the traditional character version of the lesson text in NPCR, but my old trusty Far East Dictionary has it as I have typed it.

Thanks for your help!

[mr.stinky]

that's interesting.

i looked up similar character 滑 on google translate and MDBG online,

and both were right-facing, but cut&paste into word has them left-facing.

cut&paste back into this window, and right-facing again.

but then...google says: 過 = "the" and， 滑 = "waterloo"

[Altair]

I believe these two are just variants. I seem to have definitely come across the left facing variant more than the right facing variant, but I am not sure which is really more prevalent. Wenlin has the left facing variant, but pasting it here gives the right facing variant. I guess it depends on the encoding.

I believe I recall reading some explanation of the variants, but I cannot recall the details. I can speculate that the left facing variant is easier to write (with one stroke less); however, the right facing variant maintains the symmetry between strokes 1, 2, 5, and 6 on one hand and strokes 3 and 4 on the other.

[zhwj]

It's a typeface difference. See this discussion, specifically this chart.