early period; early phase; early stage
早 (zǎo) · 6 strokes
Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 棗 represents the sound. The form of the original phonetic component 棗 was abbreviated to look like 十.
期 (qī) · 12 strokes
Phonosemantic compound. 月 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.