小城 (xiǎo chéng) — small town | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

small town

Measure word · 座

Examples

小城，。
Zhè ge xiǎo chéng fēi cháng ān jìng, shì hé yǎng lǎo.
This small town is very quiet, suitable for retirement.
小城，。
Wǒ cóng xiǎo zài xiǎo chéng zhǎng dà, hòu lái qù le dà chéng shì gōng zuò.
I grew up in a small town, and later went to work in a big city.
小城，。
Tā xǐ huan xiǎo chéng de shēng huó jié zòu, bù xǐ huan rè nao.
She likes the pace of life in a small town and doesn't like excitement.

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.

小城 joins 小 meaning small with 城 meaning town or city, giving a small town.

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.

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

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng城chéng

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.