尔 is classical Chinese for 'you' or 'that'. In modern Chinese it mainly appears in set phrases and transliterations: 尔后 (ěrhòu, thereafter), 哈尔滨 (Hā'ěrbīn, Harbin).
Bottom 小 is the small radical and the entry's filing point. It is also the simplifier's chosen replacement for the lower body of 爾; xinhua now indexes the character here, even though the original etymology of 爾 had nothing to do with smallness.
ideograph
⺈dāo
top-stroke cap; knife-top form
Top two strokes function as a small triangular cap above the body below — a non-decomposable graphic hood in the modern silhouette. Historically replaces the much more complex top of traditional 爾, leaving only this abstract shape that finishes the upper half of the simplified character.
