I would like to know if the variant of the thread radical using three "dots" at the bottom 糹is used in Japanese or just in Chinese. Also, are there cases where the bottom center stroke can be terminated by a hook?

for me it's displayed in a weird font and I've never seen it before, so I'm pretty sure that's not a Japanese character. Never saw the hook either.

z1bbo Wrote:for me it's displayed in a weird font and I've never seen it before, so I'm pretty sure that's not a Japanese character. Never saw the hook either.

Both forms appear on this page: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/糸

It's normally not used by Japanese people.

I've seen both versions quite a lot, but I think it's due to Google Chrome defaulting to a chinese font for japanese text when no language is specified on a page. If you find that behaviour unacceptable, I suggest switching to Firefox.

DrJones Wrote:I've seen both versions quite a lot, but I think it's due to Google Chrome defaulting to a chinese font for japanese text when no language is specified on a page. If you find that behaviour unacceptable, I suggest switching to Firefox.

<3 <3 <3 For some reason I just assumed that the problem would be the same on firefox too, BUT IT'S NOT! It displays them properly, wow! Made my day Thank you so much!

Although, now I have the issue of the stuff you have typed before you press enter to finalise it dropping down a line and then jumping back up. Any way to stop that? Small bug compared to kanji not displaying properly, but...

Both are used, don't worry about it.

There seem to be conflicting opinions regarding my original question…
Uncontrolled use of Chinese fonts in rendering Web pages may be one reason.
But how about handwriting? Do some Japanese people use the the "hook" version, the "three dot" version, or even the simplified Chinese form 纟 for convenience, or does it look weird?

The image below is from:
"手書きのための漢字字典"

That book is clearly giving Chinese forms intentionally, because that PRC simplified form of 続く is definitely not used in Japan. I was just discussing the thread radical issue with a native speaker teacher that I co-teach a class with, and she agreed that the version of the thread radical with the three lines is not normal in Japanese. If some people still use it, it sounds like it's not really what they teach in school or what's considered official.

Sure, it might not be standard, but it's still being used and I'd say it 's far more common than e.g. 魚 with 大 instead of 灬, which people are able to read.

So, to summarize, I should be prepared to see this form occasionally in Japanese writing, but there is no reason why I should practice it myself…
Thanks for your explanations.