Meaning & readings
beforehand, previous, myself, I
On’yomi ヨ、シャ
Kun’yomi あらかじ.め
Origin
This character appears to combine two simple elements to represent the idea of "beforehand." The top part suggests a position or place, while the bottom part represents something completed or finished. Together, they create the sense of something that comes before the main event—a preparation or advance arrangement. Over time, the character extended to mean "I" or "myself," possibly because speakers would use it to refer to themselves in advance of speaking, though this connection is less clear historically.
Components
- マ
- 了
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 4
- Kangxi radical
- 6
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #180 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+04E88