発端

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 発端 is read as ほったん and is a noun for the beginning or initial occasion from which an incident, dispute, or problem developed.
• Basic usage: Becoming the starting point appears in 事件の発端となる, while tracing back to it appears in 議論の発端をたどる.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Starting point of a sequence
  • It does not denote every cause in the process; it identifies the initial occasion or point from which a chain of events began.
• Difference from 原因
  • 原因 broadly identifies a cause that produced a result, while 発端 focuses on the temporal starting point of an incident or discussion.