Zi:小
小 [xiǎo] small (微小 ‘little/tiny’; 大小 ‘size; big and small’); narrow; young; lowly; elementary; slightly; (radical 42, 小部); (HDZ:) 细, 微 (ant. 大); …
One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):
►¹xiǎo* 小 {A} s.v. ①small; little; petty; minor ‖ Xié ∼le yị̄hào. 鞋∼了一号。 These shoes are one size too small. ②young ‖ ²Tā bị̌ wǒ ∼ sì suì. 她比我∼四岁。 She's four years younger than I. ◆pr. 〈environment:〉 humb. I; my; our ‖ ∼de bù gǎn. ∼的不敢。 I don't dare. ◆adv. for a little while; for a moment ◆n. ①the young ②concubine ‖ Yǐqián ²tā gěi rénjiā zuò ∼. 以前她给人家做∼。 She was formerly a concubine. ◆attr. ①the last in order of seniority ‖ wǒ de ∼ dìdi 我的∼弟弟 my youngest brother ②used before names of persons or animals to indicate the young ‖ ∼ Wáng ∼王 (Young) Wáng ‖ ∼ māo ∼猫 kitten; kitty
The Shuōwén Seal form of 小 xiǎo ‘small’ (微小) is said to combine 八 bā ‘eight’ (representing a ⚋ thing split/divided into two halves), and a vertical line 丨 representing the divider (⚊): after any large thing has been split/divided, the result is two relatively small things.
Compare: 分 fēn ‘divide/separate’ (分别).
Note: 小 may also be understood as 八 representing the fingertips, between which 丨 something small is pinched/held.
Compare: 大 dà ‘big’, in which the arms are spread wide to indicate great/large quantity.
Older graphs associated with 小/少 are wr. with three dots, said to suggest small grains of dirt/sand (HDZ), or 米 ‘grain/cereal’.
Compare: 少 shǎo ‘few’; cf. 米 mǐ ‘hulled grains (of millet/rice)’.
“This idea [of 小 ‘small’] is represented by the 八 partition of an 丨 object already small by its nature” —Wieger.
小 is the 42nd of the 214 radicals.
HDZ: 小 : xiǎo : 细, 微 (ant. 大); 狭隘, 不足; 轻视 (cf. 誚, 肖); 年幼的人; 低微; 妾, 小老婆; 短暂; 将近; (谦词) (小弟, 小儿, 小店); (爱称) (小李, 小王); (副词) 稍微, 略微; 少 (shǎo); (姓)
►references: Guǎngyùn:297.05; Wieger:18h; Henshall:36; Karlgren:AD789,GSR1149a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.560.12; Lindqvist:333; Mathews:2605; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:296.18; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:003.0.02; Wáng(1993):38; EDOC:1
►components: 八丨
►Cantonese: siu/
<cdl char='小' uni='5C0F'>
<stroke type='sg' points='65,0 65,128 30,108' />
<comp char='八' uni='516B' variant='1' points='0,29 128,92' />
</cdl>
<cdl char='八' uni='516B' variant='1' points='0,4 128,124' radical='K0'>
<stroke type='p' points='34,8 0,128' tail='long' />
<stroke type='d' points='89,0 128,124' />
<!-- variant based on [U+EF99](V=0) -->
<!-- 2013-09-04T18:45:35Z -->
</cdl>
►stroke 小 (... strokes)
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Unicode: U+5C0F
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