Alternative Kanji Forms?

[kentaku_sama]

What's the deal with words like　あげる？　

This can be written　

上げる、挙げる、揚げる　

Why, is there any point to using the different kanji？　Is there a name for this in japanese?
This has really confused me because I've seen these written all three ways

[jimbreen]

What's the deal with words like　あげる？　
This can be written　
上げる、挙げる、揚げる　
Why, is there any point to using the different kanji？　Is there a name for this in japanese?
This has really confused me because I've seen these written all three ways

A good question. The different kanji versions are sometimes just a matter of taste, and sometimes they have a particular nuance. For example there are quite a few contexts where 挙げる must be used, although in most cases 上げる is OK. I have tried to touch all bases in the JMdict/EDICT entry. See:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... 2%E3%82%8B

Jim

[kentaku_sama]

Ooh, thanks, this is very usefull ＾＾