小拇指 (xiǎo mǔ zhī) — little finger, pinky finger | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

little fingerpinky finger

Measure word · 根

Examples

小拇指。
Tā de xiǎo mǔ zhī bù xiǎo xīn bèi mén jiá le yí xià.
His little finger accidentally got caught in the door.
小拇指。
Tā dài jiè zhi de xiǎo mǔ zhī shàng yǒu yì kē xiǎo zuàn shí.
There is a small diamond on the little finger where she wears the ring.
，小拇指。
Tán gāng qín shí, xiǎo mǔ zhī yě yào yòng lì àn qín jiàn.
When playing the piano, the little finger also needs to press the keys firmly.

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.

拇指thumb

拇mǔthumb指zhǐfinger

偏正Modifier + head

The small '小' marks the smallest one, and '拇指' names a hand digit, giving the little finger.

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.

扌母拇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

母

母mǔ拇mǔ

Same sound today

拇 has 扌, the hand form written fully as 手, and 母, which gives the sound.

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

扌旨指

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.

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