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小指 (xiǎo zhǐ) — little finger; little toe

Definition

小指 means the smallest digit: it refers to the little finger on the hand and the little toe on the foot. The examples alone don't tell you which one — context (hand vs. foot) does.

noun
little fingerlittle toe
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 小指。
    Tā de xiǎo zhǐ hěn téng.
    Her little finger hurts a lot.
  • 小指。
    Tā de xiǎo zhǐ pèng dào le zhuō zi.
    His little toe hit the table.
  • 小指。
    Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de xiǎo zhǐ.
    The doctor examined her little finger.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

小xiǎosmall
指zhǐfinger or toe

小 means small, and 指 means finger or toe, so it names the smallest digit.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ指zhǐ
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

Open 指 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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