Pictograph: a sprout pushing through earth. The encoded meaning straddles two senses: "the moment something first emerges" (= just / barely / only now) AND "innate aptitude" (= talent). The metaphor: talent is like a sprout breaking through soil — the first appearance of capacity. Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体. Note 才 is one of the simplest characters at just 3 strokes — yet semantically rich.

Cross-language usage split: — Korean / Japanese: 才 dominantly means "talent / aptitude". 天才 (genius), 才能 (talent), 英才 (gifted child). — Mandarin: 才 is BOTH "talent" AND a critical adverb meaning "just / only / barely". The adverb usage is one of the high-frequency Mandarin grammar items: 我才到 (wǒ cái dào, "I just arrived"), 才十块钱 (cái shí kuài qián, "only ten yuan"), 现在才知道 (xiànzài cái zhīdào, "I only just realized"). The Mandarin adverb 才 is something Korean/Japanese learners must absorb separately — it doesn't exist with the same force in their languages.

Mandarin: cái, rising 2nd tone. 才能 (cáinéng, ability / talent), 才华 (cáihuá, talent / gift), 人才 (réncái, talented person), 天才 (tiāncái, genius), 刚才 (gāngcái, just now). Adverbial: 才 (cái, just / only).

Japanese: on-reading サイ (sai) — 天才 (tensai, genius — colloquially also means "you're amazing!"), 才能 (sainō, talent), 秀才 (shūsai, gifted student / scholar). And the colloquial 〜才 used for ages in writing, especially handwritten — 25才 means "25 years old", though formal documents use 歳 (next entry).

Memory aid: a sprout breaking through earth — capacity beginning to show.