漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
早: early, fast
日 carries the meaning · 十 is drawn in
Five readings, and the words that use each
ソウsou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 早朝そうちょうearly morning
- 早急なそうきゅうなurgent
はやいhayai · kun'yomi · on its own
- 早いはやいearly
はやhaya · kun'yomi
- 早起きするはやおきするwake up early
はやまるhayamaru · kun'yomi
- 早まるはやまるbe rash [v.i.]
はやめるhayameru · kun'yomi
- 早めるはやめるhasten [v.t.]
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 早速さっそくimmediately
Also read サッ, はや-, さ-, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)日 sun (meaning) + 棗 (sound)
Early bronze inscriptions: Pictogram (象形) – acorn. Original form of 皂 through an intermediate variant 皁 (once also written as 草).
Source: Wiktionary, 早 (rev. 92200650), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Sun + a cross (十, seen as the horizon or a needle) = the sun just peeking over the edge of the world at the very start of the day.”
Connections
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zǎo
Same form: 早 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 早 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 早 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin zǎo most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.