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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

小

xiǎo
small, tiny, little
  • Ideogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 小
  • 3 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

The character's formation is interpreted in two ways. It may be an ideogram representing three small dots, or a pictogram of three granules of sand, which was the original character for 沙. In bronze inscriptions, these dots became elongated. The Shuowen Jiezi describes the character as the essence of smallness, claiming it is an ideogrammic compound composed of 八 (to divide or separate) and 丨 (a small object).

While the character is often thought to be related to 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews), Schuessler notes that the alternation between Middle Chinese /s-/ and /ɕ-/ within such a word family is exceptional. In its oracle bone script form, 少 is represented by four dots. The bottom part of 小 is unrelated to the components found in 京, 示, 尞, 尗, or 原. The character has been attested in oracle, bronze, qin, seal, and regular scripts.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

關於「小」字的字源，目前有兩種可能的解釋。一種認為它是指事字，以三個小點來表示「小」；另一種則認為它是象形字，描繪三粒沙子，這與「沙」字的原始字形有關。在青銅器銘文中，這些點狀符號逐漸變得拉長。根據這種形態，《說文解字》將其誤認為是會意字，由「八」（意為分隔）與「丨」（小物件）組成。

在甲骨文中，「少」字是以四個點來表示，因此有人認為「小」與「少」有關。然而，Schuessler 指出，在同一個詞族中，中古漢語 /s-/ 與 /ɕ-/ 的音韻交替屬於極其罕見的情況。此外，「小」字與「京」、「示」、「尞」、「尗」及「原」的底部結構無關。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • ideaChinese八 “eight”
  • ideaChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”

Words built on it: 小姐, 小心, 小朋友, 大小, 小時, 小吃, 小型, 示

Wiktionary etymology text

Two possible interpretations:

* Ideogram (指事) – three small dots > small.

* Pictogram (象形) – three granules of sand – original character of 沙 (OC *sraːl, *sraːls) > small.

Starting from some bronze inscriptions, the dots have become elongated. Based on this form, Shuowen erroneously considers it to be an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 八 (“to divide; to separate”) + 丨 (“small object”).

Compare with 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews), represented by four dots in its oracle bone script form. Unrelated to the bottom part of 京, 示, 尞, 尗, and 原.

Often thought to be related to 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews) (e.g. Wang, 1982), but Schuessler (2007) points out that the alternation between Middle Chinese /s-/ and /ɕ-/ within a word family is exceptional.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. small, tiny, little
  2. minor, petty
  3. briefly, for a short while
  4. slightly, a little
  5. young
  6. youngest

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

小：物之微也。从八，丨見而分之。凡小之屬皆从小。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 表示體積、面積、數量、容量、年齡等窄、少。與「大」相對。 例：小山、小雨、小孩　◎
  2. 排行最後或地位較低的。 例：小妹、小官
  3. 謙稱自己或和自己相關的人事物。 例：小店、小兒、小女
  4. 稍微。表示程度不深。 例：牛刀小試、不無小補、大同小異
  5. 短時間的。 例：小住、小憩、小坐
  6. 品行不端的。 例：小人

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 小 was written 字形演變

  1. 小 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 小 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 小 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 小 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 小 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 小