初

Translingual

Etymology

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 衤 + 刀: start making clothes (衣) by cutting (刀) the cloth.

Han character

初 (radical 18 刀+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 中尸竹 (LSH), four-corner 3722₀, composition ⿰衤刀)

References

• KangXi: page 137, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1911
• Dae Jaweon: page 310, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 327, character 22
• Unihan data for U+521D

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		初

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chū (chu¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄔㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): co¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): chhû
• Min Dong (BUC): chĕ̤/chŭ
• Min Nan (POJ): chho͘ / chhoe / chhe
• Wu (WT Romanisation): tshu (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: chū
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄨ
    • Wade-Giles: ch'u¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chu
    • IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: co¹
    • Yale: chō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tso¹
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhû
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /t͡sʰu²⁴/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: chĕ̤/chŭ
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰœ⁵⁵/, /t͡sʰu⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chho͘ / chhoe / chhe
    • Tâi-lô: tsho͘ / tshue / tshe
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰɔ⁴⁴/, /t͡sʰue⁴⁴/, /t͡sʰe⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰɔ³⁴/, /t͡sʰue³⁴/, /t͡sʰe³⁴/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: tshu (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɯ⁵³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (初, reconstructed)
Character (初), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 初 (19) Final: 魚 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 楚居切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/t͡ʃʰɨʌ/	/ʈ͡ʂʰi̯wo/	/t͡ʃʰiɔ/	/ʈ͡ʂʰiɔ/	/ʈ͡ʂʰɨə̆/	/t͡ʃʰĭo/	/t͡ʃʰiɔ/

Old Chinese pronunciation (初, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
初								chū								‹ tsrhjo ›								/*[ts]ʰra/								beginning
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
初					1589					初					魚					0					初					/*sʰra/

Definitions

初

1. beginning, initial, primary

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Japanese

Kanji

初

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. beginning, start, first

Readings

• Goon: そ (so)
• Kan’on: しょ (sho)
• Kun: はじめ (hajime), はつ (hatsu), うい (ui)
• Nanori: はじめ (hajime), し (shi), もと (moto)

Compounds

• 初雪 (はつゆき, hatsuyuki) the first snow
• 初心 (しょしん, shoshin) original intention
• 初心者 (しょしんしゃ, shoshinsha) beginner
• 最初 (さいしょ, saisho) first
• 初速度 (しょそくど, shosokudo) initial velocity
• 初夏 (しょか, shoka) the beginning of summer
• 初春 (しょしゅん, shoshun) the beginning of spring
• 初秋 (しょしゅう, shoshū) the beginning of autumn
• 初冬 (しょとう, shotō) the beginning of winter
• 初誕生 (はつたんじょう, hatsutanjō) first birthday

Derived terms

• 初め (はじめ, hajime)
• 初めて (はじめて, hajimete)
• 初め (ぞめ, -zome)
• 書き初め (かきぞめ, kakizome)

See also

• 始

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term

初

うい Grade: 4

kun'yomi

From Old Japanese.

upi > uɸi > uwi > ui.

Noun

初 (hiragana うい, romaji ui, historical hiragana うひ)

1. the first; a start

Prefix

初 (hiragana うい, romaji ui-, historical hiragana うひ)

1. first

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term

初

はつ Grade: 4

kun'yomi

From Old Japanese.

patu > ɸatu > hatu

Noun

初 (hiragana はつ, romaji hatsu)

1. the first; a start
2. first sexual relations

Prefix

初 (hiragana はつ, romaji hatsu-)

1. first

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term

初

Grade: 4

kun'yomi

From 始め (hajime, “beginning, first”).

Proper noun

初 (hiragana はじめ, romaji Hajime)

1. A male given name

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Korean

Hanja

初 (cho) (hangeul 초, revised cho, McCune-Reischauer ch'o)

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Vietnamese

Hán tự

初 (sơ)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.