Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

早 (radical 72 日+2, 6 strokes, cangjie input 日十 (AJ), four-corner 6040₀, composition ⿱日十)

Derived characters

• 草 章 覃

References

• KangXi: page 489, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13742
• Dae Jaweon: page 850, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1483, character 6
• Unihan data for U+65E9

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 早
Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

One possibility is that 早 is a pictograph of sun (日) over the horizon. However, it is also possible that 早 was originally a pictograph of a particular type of acorn. The shells of these acorns would be used to make a dark-colored dye. This color indicated the darkness before sunrise and the symbol then took on the meaning of early or fast.

Pronunciation

Definitions

早

1. early; in advance; soon

   我醒得很早。  ―  Wǒ xǐng dé hěn zǎo.  ―  I woke up early.

   • 你能不能早一點來？ [MSC, trad.]
     你能不能早一点来？ [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ néng bù néng zǎo yīdiǎn lái? [Pinyin]

     Can you be here a little earlier?

   • 請問，我今天早走一會兒行嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
     请问，我今天早走一会儿行吗？ [MSC, simp.]

     Qǐngwèn, wǒ jīntiān zǎo zǒu yīhuìr xíng ma? [Pinyin]

     Please could I leave early today?

2. long ago; for a long time

   他早走了。  ―  Tā zǎo zǒu le.  ―  He left long ago.

   • 這個變壓器已經燒毀了，早該拆換一個新的了。 [MSC, trad.]
     这个变压器已经烧毁了，早该拆换一个新的了。 [MSC, simp.]

     Zhè ge biànyāqì yǐjīng shāo huǐ le, zǎo gāi chāi huàn yī ge xīn de le. [Pinyin]

     This transformer has burnt out. It should have been replaced a long time ago.

3. (early) morning
   • 我今早沒有見到他。 [MSC, trad.]
     我今早没有见到他。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ jīn zǎo méi yǒu jiàndào tā. [Pinyin]

     I didn't see him this morning.

4. good morning
5. before; in the past time
   • 現在這麼匆忙，你早幹嗎去了。 [MSC, trad.]
     现在这么匆忙，你早干吗去了。 [MSC, simp.]

     Xiànzài zhème cōngmáng, nǐ zǎo gànmá qù le. [Pinyin]

     So now you are in a hurry. What were you doing before?

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: そう (sō)
• Kan’on: そう (sō)
• Kan’yōon: さつ (satsu)
• Kun: はやい (hayai), はや (haya), さ (sa)

Compounds

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) は​や [háꜜyà] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ha̠ja̠]

Noun

早 ‎(hiragana はや, romaji haya)

1. already, now

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

Korean

Hanja

早 • ‎(jo)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 조 (McCune-Reischauer: cho, Yale: co)

• Name (hangeul): 일찍()

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

Vietnamese

Han character

早 (tảo, linh)

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