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Definition 2024

初

初

初 U+521D, 初
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-521D
← 刜
[U+521C] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 刞 →
[U+521E]

Translingual

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

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 初

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 初
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bamboo and silk script Large seal script Small seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 衤 ‎(“clothes”) + 刀 ‎(“knife; to cut”) – start making clothes by cutting the cloth.

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 初
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 初 (19)
Final (韻) 魚 (22)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 楚居切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /t͡ʃʰɨʌ/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ʈ͡ʂʰiɔ/
Shao
Rongfen		 /t͡ʃʰiɔ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ʈ͡ʂʰɨə̆/
Li
Rong		 /t͡ʃʰiɔ/
Wang
Li		 /t͡ʃʰĭo/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ʈ͡ʂʰi̯wo/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 chū
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 初
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 chū
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ tsrhjo ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ts]ʰra/
English 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 初
Reading # 1/1
No. 1589
Phonetic
component		 初
Rime
group		 魚
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 初
Old
Chinese		 /*sʰra/

Definitions

初

  1. initial; inceptive
  2. original; first; primary
  3. elementary; basic
  4. beginning; start
  5. initially; originally

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

初

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. beginning, start, first

Readings

Compounds

Derived terms

See also

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
    今年 (ことし)初 (はつ)のコンサート
    kotoshi hatsu no konsāto
    the first concert of this year
  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

Korean

Hanja

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

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

初 (sơ)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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