Stroke order

初 (Kangxi radical 18,刀+5, 7 strokes,cangjie input中尸竹 (LSH),four-corner3722₀,composition⿰衤刀)

• 𢮀,𦁅,𫋶,𪯨,𭝘,𤙟,𤯦,𠸗,𩷞,𪁲,𠠭

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

Historical forms of the character初
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan)	Liushutong (compiled inMing)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

The various𢀰-shaped glyphs are or are evolved fromZetian characters.

初

1. initial;inceptive

   初夏  ― chūxià  ―  early summer

2. first

   初雪  ― chūxuě  ―  first snow

   初戀／初恋  ― chūliàn  ―  first love

3. prefix of dates from 1^st to 10^th in theChinese calendar

   初三  ― chūsān  ―  third day of a lunar month

4. original

   初衷  ― chūzhōng  ―  one’s initial intention; original idea

5. elementary;basic

   初級／初级  ― chūjí  ―  elementary

6. beginning;start

   四月初  ― sìyuèchū  ―  early April

   民初  ― mínchū  ―  beginning of the Republic of China era

7. just

   初出茅廬／初出茅庐  ― chūchūmáolú  ―  to have just begun one's career without any experience (literally, “to have just come out of one's thatched cottage”)

   如夢初醒／如梦初醒  ― rúmèngchūxǐng  ―  to suddenly realize; to wake up to reality (literally, “as if one has just waken up from a dream”)

   • 遙想公瑾當年，小喬初嫁了，雄姿英發。[Classical Chinese,trad.]
     遥想公瑾当年，小乔初嫁了，雄姿英发。[Classical Chinese,simp.]

     From:1082,Su Shi,念奴嬌·赤壁懷古

     Yáoxiǎng Gōngjǐn dāngnián, Xiǎoqiáochū jià le, xióngzīyīngfā.[Pinyin]

     Recalling the year whenGongjin hadjust hadXiao Qiao as his wife, robust and beaming with might.

• → Vietnamese:xưa

• “初”, in漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[2],香港中文大學 (theChinese University of Hong Kong),2014–

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on:そ(so)
• Kan-on:しょ(sho,Jōyō)
• Kun:はじめ(hajime,初め,Jōyō)、はじめて(hajimete,初めて,Jōyō)、はつ(hatsu,初,Jōyō)、うい(ui,初,Jōyō)^{←うひ(ufi,初,historical)}、そめる(someru,初める,Jōyō)、うぶ(ubu,初)
• Nanori:し(shi)、もと(moto)

• 最(さい)初(しょ)(saisho)
• 初瀬(はせ)(Hase)

⟨patu⟩ →/ɸat͡su/ →/hat͡su/

FromOld Japanese.

Possible cognates include始め(hajime,“beginning”) and端(ha,“edge of something”).

• (Tokyo)はつ[hàtsúꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ha̠t͡sɨ]

初(はつ)• (hatsu-) 

1. thefirst...,initial...,new...

初(はつ)• (hatsu) 

1. afirst,start, abeginning

   Antonym:末(sue)

   今年(ことし)初(はつ)のコンサート ―kotoshihatsu no konsāto ―thefirst concert of this year

2. (slang) firstsexual relations, one'sfirst time

/uɸi/ →/uwi/ →/ui/

First attested in theKokin Wakashū of roughly 905-914CE,^[2] and assumed to be inherited fromOld Japanese.

There is an apparently related term初(ubu) of overlapping synonymous meaning, first attested in the early 1000s. It is unclear how these two terms are related: one might be a derivation of the other, or the two might derive separately via other processes.

Bothui andubu appear to be related to verb生む(umu,“tobirth”), from the sense of "first of something since one has been born".

Martin suggests that this might be a fusion of生む(umu,“tobirth”) +‎日(hi,“day”), literally“birthday”.^[3] However, the meaning of any such compound would be the nounbirthday with a sense of "the day a woman gives birth" rather than "the day someone is born". Also, phonologically, this would be expected to result inubi:/umu/ +/pi/ →/umupi/ →/umpi/ →/ubi/.

Possibly cognate with上(ue,“above”,possibly via the sense of "upstream → earlier") or classical verb生ふ(ancientopu, classicalofu, modernou, “togrow”).

• (Tokyo)うい[úꜜì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟i]

初(うい)• (ui) ^{←うひ(ufi)?}

1. [from early 900s] afirst,start

• 初(うい)々(うい)しい(uiuishii)
• 初(うい)の子(こ)(ui no ko)
• 初(うい)冠(こうぶり)(uikōburi,“crowning a boy for the first time at a coming-of-age ceremony”)

初(うい)• (ui-) ^{←うひ(ufi-)?}

1. [from early 900s] thefirst of something

From stemup- cognate withui (historicaluhi) above. Cause of the shift in voicing is uncertain.(Canthis⁽⁺⁾ etymology besourced?)

• (Tokyo)うぶ[úꜜbù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟bɯ̟]

初(うぶ)• (ubu) -na (adnominal初(うぶ)な(ubuna),adverbial初(うぶ)に(ubuni))

1. innocent
2. inexperienced,green

• 初(うぶ)い(ubui)
• 初(うぶ)刀(がたな)(ubugatana)
• 初(うぶ)声(ごえ)(ubugoe)

FromMiddle Chinese初 (MC tsrhjo).

CompareMin Nan初 (chho͘).

初(しょ)• (sho) 

1. beginning,start
2. first,initial

Nominalization of始め(hajime,“beginning,first”).

初(はじめ)• (Hajime) 

1. a malegiven name

初 (eumhun처음초(cheo'eum cho))

1. hanja form^? of초(“beginning;start”)

• 초등학교 (初等學校,chodeunghakgyo, “elementary school”)
• 초보자 (初步者,choboja, “beginner”)

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun:はじみ(hajimi,初み)、はじみてぃ(hajimiti,初みてぃ)、はち(hachi,初)、うぃー(wī,初)、すみゆん(sumiyun,初みゆん)

FromProto-Ryukyuan*patu.

Cognate withJapanese初(hatsu-).

• IPA^(key): [hat͡ɕi]

初(はち) (hachi-) 

1. thefirst...,initial...,new...

FromProto-Japonic*patu.

Possible cognates include始め(pazime,“beginning”),僅か(patuka,“faint”), and端(pa,“edge of something”).

初 (patu-) (kanaはつ)

1. thefirst...,initial...,new...

• Japanese:初(hatsu-)

初:Hán Việt readings:sơ (楚(sở)徂(tồ)切(thiết))^[1][2][3]
初:Nôm readings:xưa^{[1][2][3][4][5]},sơ^[1][2][3][5],xơ^[1][2][3],thơ^[1][3][4],sờ^[1]

初• (sơ,xưa)

1. chữ Hán form ofsơ(“in theinitialstage;primary;elementary”).
2. chữ Nôm form ofxưa(“old;ancient”).

初• (xưa)

1. chữ Nôm form ofxưa(“alongtimeago;oldtimes”).

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