最早

Chinese

		(the) most; ‑est	early; morning
trad. (最早)		最	早
simp. ^#(最早)		最	早

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zuìzǎo

(Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄟˋ ㄗㄠˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zeoi³ zou²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zuìzǎo
  - Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄟˋ ㄗㄠˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: zuèizǎo
  - Wade–Giles: tsui⁴-tsao³
  - Yale: dzwèi-dzǎu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzueytzao
  - Palladius: цзуйцзао (czujczao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹ t͡sɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zeoi³ zou²
  - Yale: jeui jóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzoey³ dzou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: zêu³ zou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɵy̯³³ t͡sou̯³⁵/

Adjective

最早

earliest

Japanese

Kanji in this term
最	早
も Grade: 4	はや Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
最早や (obsolete)

Etymology

From 最(も) (mo-, “most, true”) + 早(はや) (haya, “now, already”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もはや [móꜜhàyà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [mo̞ha̠ja̠]

Adverb

最(も)早(はや) • (mohaya)

now, already, (with negative verbs) no longer

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“^△最早”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Ineko Kondō, Fumi Takano, Mary E. Althaus, et al. (2002), Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, third edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN