This is weird. Shouldn't "争う" be "あらそう," not "あらがう"? The reason why I ask is because my dictionary… - Feed Post by JamesG

• 
  mog86uk

  It threw me off the first few times I encountered that question too. I'm very familiar with it being あらそう from a Slime Forest question that I had kept getting slightly wrong several times XD. So I knew it instantly and was surprised when あらそう wasn't listed in the answers.
  
  However, あらがう isn't actually wrong. It is not a proper jōyō kanji list reading of 争 either though: http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/7077/meaning/m0u/
  
  あらがう "go against, fight against, oppose, resist, deny"
  ・Using kanji, it can be written either 抗う, 争う, 諍う.
  ・Can only be converted as 抗う if using Google Japanese Input.
  ・Is not a Jōyō kanji list reading for any of those kanji (諍 isn't even a Jōyō kanji), so would be written only in kana instead.
  ・Is a listed kun reading only for 抗 in JCJP's dictionary, not for 争 nor 諍.
  ・Not tagged as a being a commonly used word in JCJP's dictionary.
  
  あらそう "compete, contest, contend; argue; deny"
  ・Using kanji, it is only written as 争う.
  ・Is a Jōyō kanji list reading for 争う (あらそう).
  ・Is a listed kun reading of 争 in JCJP's dictionary.
  ・Is tagged as a "word or expression in common usage" in JCJP's dictionary: http://japaneseclass.jp/dictionary/%E4%BA%89%E3%81%86
  
  Basically, 争う is normally read あらそう. However the kanji 争 can be used in a non-standard way to write あらがう (抗う) too, as 争う. But あらがう isn't even a common word, whereas あらそう is. The two kanji 争 and 抗 have similar meanings, so using 争 in place of 抗 in あらがう maybe emphasises a certain aspect of the word.
  
  It's thanks to encountering this question on JCJP that I learned this (even if it is fairly useless to know). I wouldn't have learned anything by just clicking an answer I already knew. I'm not sure whether it was intentional for it to be listed this way, but in this particular case I didn't mind it being like this. :P

  February 22, 2016 at 7:04am
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  mog86uk

  Maybe it should be changed though. JCJP's dictionary entry for 争う lists uncommon word あらがう before common word あらそう. So there's a good chance this question wasn't intended to be listed this way?

  February 22, 2016 at 7:07am
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  Aarowaim

  This site is run by a single person, right? It may be that his dialect/dictionary isn't the same as standard Japanese. Projects run by individuals are prone to these mistakes because nobody can supervise the work.

  February 22, 2016 at 9:24pm
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  JamesG

  Thanks for the insight. It was very confusing to me,

  February 23, 2016 at 5:26am