狭小 (xiá xiǎo) — narrow, cramped

Definition

狭小 (xiáxiǎo) means 'cramped, narrow and small' — typically rooms, spaces, or horizons (眼界狭小). 狭隘 shares the meaning but leans toward 'narrow-minded'; 狭窄 is more neutral for physical space.

adjective
narrowcramped

Examples

  • 狭小，。
    Zhè tiáo xiǎo xiàng fēi cháng xiá xiǎo, zhǐ néng yí gè rén tōng guò.
    This alley is very narrow; only one person can pass through.
  • 狭小，。
    Tā de shì yě hěn xiá xiǎo, kàn bú dào gèng dà de shì jiè.
    His vision is narrow; he can't see the bigger world.
  • 狭小，。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān suī rán xiá xiǎo, dàn bù zhì dé hěn wēn xīn.
    This room is cramped, but it's decorated very cozily.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

狭xiánarrow
小xiǎosmall

狭 and 小 together describe something both narrow and small, as in cramped quarters.

Characters in this word

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 狹; 狭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犭Written in full as犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
夾
夾jiā狹xiá
Same sound today

The traditional form 狹 pairs 犭 (dog) with 夾 as a sound part; the simplified 狭 is a later shorthand.

Open 狭 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Size & Dimension

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