早

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

• 草 章 覃

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

Historical forms of the character 早
Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Early bronze inscriptions: Pictogram (象形) – acorn. Original form of 皂 (OC *zuːʔ) (once also written as 草). Borrowed for "morning" sense.

Late bronze inscriptions: Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ʔsuːʔ) : semantic 日 (“sun”) + phonetic 棗 (OC *ʔsuːʔ), with 棗 sometimes simplified as 朿.

Small seal script: Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 日 (“sun”) + 甲 (“first”) – when the sun first rises.

In some ancient texts, 蚤 (OC *ʔsuːʔ) was often used instead.

Possible cognate found in Proto-Hmong-Mien *ntsi̯ouˣ (“early”), whence White Hmong ntxov and Iu Mien nziou (Baxter and Sagart, 2014; Schuessler, 2007), and Proto-Tai *ɟaːwꟲ (“early morning”), whence Thai เช้า (cháao) and Lü ᦋᧁᧉ (tsaw²).

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?

   Antonym: 遲／迟 (chí)

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

   老師早！／老师早！  ―  Lǎoshī zǎo!  ―  Good morning, teacher!

   Synonym: 早安 (zǎo'ān)

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?

6. (Taiwan, informal) Short for 早上 (zǎoshang).; a.m.

   早八  ―  zǎo bā  ―  8:00 a.m.

7. (Hainanese) breakfast
8. a surname

• “早”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Entry #2446”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

• Go-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: さっ (sa', Jōyō ^†)
• Kun: はやい (hayai, 早い, Jōyō); はやまる (hayamaru, 早まる, Jōyō); はやめる (hayameru, 早める, Jōyō); さ (sa, 早)

• 足(あし)早(ばや) (ashibaya): briskness, swift-footedness, fast-pacedness

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

早(はや) • (haya) 

1. already, now

   はや数日(すうじつ)

   haya-sūjitsu

   (please add an English translation of this example)

From Middle Chinese 早 (MC t͡sɑu^X). Recorded as Middle Korean 조〯 (cwǒ) (Yale: cwo) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource 早 (eumhun 일찍 조 (iljjik jo))

1. Hanja form^? of 조 (“early”).

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

早: Hán Việt readings: tảo (子(tử)皓(hạo)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4][5]
早: Nôm readings: tảo[2][4][6], chảo[1], tảu

1. chữ Hán form of tảo (“early; in advance”).
2. chữ Hán form of tảo (“morning”).