小学校 (xiǎo xué jiào) — small school

Definition

小学校 means a small school, usually referring to an elementary/primary school (a less common synonym for 小学). The example sentences use it for physically small rural schools.

noun
small school
Measure word · 所

Examples

  • 小学校。
    Zhè suǒ xiǎo xué jiào zhǐ yǒu yì bǎi míng xué shēng.
    This small school only has 100 students.
  • 小学校。
    Tā zài yì suǒ xiāng xia de xiǎo xué jiào jiāo shū.
    He teaches at a small school in the countryside.
  • 小学校，。
    Suī rán xiǎo xué jiào hěn xiǎo, dàn jiào xué zhì liàng hěn gāo.
    Although the small school is very small, its teaching quality is high.

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
学校school
学xuélearning校xiàoschool
偏正Modifier + head

小 marks smallness, while 学 and 校 together form the idea of a school; the word means a small school.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo校jiào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 校 →

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