Why is はじめ written with the kanji 初 as opposed to 始 to convey "the beginning"?


I frowned upon my textbook when I saw the word 初【はじ】め (the beginning) for the
first time (no pun intended). The reason is that so far, I understood the idea
of "start" is conveyed by 始, whereas the concept of "first" is conveyed by 初.
Therefore, according to my experience, I would expect はじめ to be spelt 始め only.

For example:

**初**

> **初** めてのちゅう the **first** kiss  
>  **初** 級 the **first** level  
>  世界 **初** の車 the **first** car in the world  
>

**始**

> パーティーの開 **始** に合わない not in time for the beginning of the party  
>  授業を **始** めよう let's start the lesson  
>

However, it turns out that both spellings exist depending on whether "the
beginning" is in terms of time, or in terms of a process that someone starts,
as explained in this excellent
[answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/57913/32952) by [Eiríkr
Útlendi](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/5229/eir%c3%adkr-%c3%9atlendi)
(thank you!).

My question is, **why** or **how** did 初 come to be used to convey this
meaning of "beginning" in some instances such as はじめ, replacing 始?

よろしくお願いします！




When it comes to any question about _"why is word XX spelled with kanji YY
instead of kanji ZZ?"_ , or _"what is the difference in nuance between kanji
spelling AA and kanji spelling BB of the same word CC?"_ , you're ultimately
asking about the kanji themselves -- and this often means we want to look at
those words in Chinese to uncover additional information.

For instance, if we examine the senses of [the Chinese term
初](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%88%9D#Chinese), we see the following
definitions:

  1. initial; inceptive
  2. original; first; primary
  3. elementary; basic
  4. beginning; start
  5. initially; originally

Meanwhile, [the Chinese term
始](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A7%8B#Chinese) has these definitions:

  1. to begin; to start
  2. beginning; start
  3. initial; first
  4. then; only then; only after 

Turning our attention back to the Japanese terms that include these kanji, we
see some of this Chinese background reflected in the modern Japanese meanings.
For instance, 初級 isn't just _the **first** level_, but more specifically _the
**primary** , **elementary** , or **basic** level_, senses that we find with
the 初 kanji but not with the 始 kanji. Meanwhile, for 開始 is literally 開 ("to
open; to start") + 始 ("to begin; first; then, only after"). One way of parsing
this kanji spelling is _"things **open up** or **start up** , and **then**
[other things happen]"_, a sense found with the 始 kanji but not the 初 one.
(Note that I'm stretching the point here -- in truth, 開始 was coined in
Chinese, and could also be parsed as just "to open; to start" + "to start" as
a kind of duplication of near-synonyms to reinforce the basic meaning.)

Looking at the alternative spellings of the _wago_ or native-Japanese terms
はじめ or はじめて, the Chinese-derived meanings of the Chinese-derived kanji still
seem to have some relevance, where はじめ or はじめて spelled with 初 tends to have
overtones like those above listed for 初, and where はじめ or はじめて spelled with 始
tends to have overtones like those listed above for 始.

* * *

Please comment if the above doesn't answer your question.




When it comes to any question about _"why is word XX spelled with kanji YY
instead of kanji ZZ?"_ , or _"what is the difference in nuance between kanji
spelling AA and kanji spelling BB of the same word CC?"_ , you're ultimately
asking about the kanji themselves -- and this often means we want to look at
those words in Chinese to uncover additional information.

For instance, if we examine the senses of [the Chinese term
初](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%88%9D#Chinese), we see the following
definitions:

  1. initial; inceptive
  2. original; first; primary
  3. elementary; basic
  4. beginning; start
  5. initially; originally

Meanwhile, [the Chinese term
始](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A7%8B#Chinese) has these definitions:

  1. to begin; to start
  2. beginning; start
  3. initial; first
  4. then; only then; only after 

Turning our attention back to the Japanese terms that include these kanji, we
see some of this Chinese background reflected in the modern Japanese meanings.
For instance, 初級 isn't just _the **first** level_, but more specifically _the
**primary** , **elementary** , or **basic** level_, senses that we find with
the 初 kanji but not with the 始 kanji. Meanwhile, for 開始 is literally 開 ("to
open; to start") + 始 ("to begin; first; then, only after"). One way of parsing
this kanji spelling is _"things **open up** or **start up** , and **then**
[other things happen]"_, a sense found with the 始 kanji but not the 初 one.
(Note that I'm stretching the point here -- in truth, 開始 was coined in
Chinese, and could also be parsed as just "to open; to start" + "to start" as
a kind of duplication of near-synonyms to reinforce the basic meaning.)

Looking at the alternative spellings of the _wago_ or native-Japanese terms
はじめ or はじめて, the Chinese-derived meanings of the Chinese-derived kanji still
seem to have some relevance, where はじめ or はじめて spelled with 初 tends to have
overtones like those above listed for 初, and where はじめ or はじめて spelled with 始
tends to have overtones like those listed above for 始.

* * *

Please comment if the above doesn't answer your question.

