初
chū · HSK 3
first
✂️👕 初 = 衣 (clothes) + 刀 (knife): cutting cloth is the beginning of a garment
The character combines 衣 (clothing radical) on the left with 刀 (knife) on the right. The etymology: the first cut of cloth marks the start of making a robe, so 初 came to mean 'beginning' or 'early part of'.
初 — clothes radical 衤 + knife 刀
初 combines 衤 (clothes) and 刀 (knife), depicting the act of cutting cloth to begin making a garment. From this concrete image of starting a tailoring task came the extended meaning 'beginning' or 'first'. It is an associative compound, not phonetic.