戋 (jiān) · small; trifling; meagre

Meanings

1 small; trifling; meagre
2 tiny in amount (reduplicated as 戋戋)

Characters

戋

jiān

small; trifling

Examples

HSK 7-9

区区戋戋之数，不足挂齿。

Qūqū jiān jiān zhī shù, bùzú guà chǐ.

Such a trifling sum is not worth mentioning.

HSK 7-9

为数戋戋，聊表心意。

Wéi shù jiān jiān, liáo biǎo xīnyì.

It's a small amount, just a token of my feelings.

Tips

history

Traditional 戔 stacks two 戈 (dagger-axes) - two halberds clashing meant 'to wound, to whittle down'. From 'cut down small' came the meaning 'meagre, trifling'. The PRC simplification 戋 reduces the lower halberd to a single horizontal, leaving 戈 + 一.

usage

Standalone 戋 is rare; you mostly meet it doubled in the literary 戋戋 'meagre, paltry'. Crucially it is the phonetic stem of a huge family: 钱 (money), 线 (thread), 浅 (shallow), 贱 (lowly), 残 (remnant), 笺 (notepaper), 践 (tread). All carry the 'thin / small / cut down' flavour.

Components

radical

戈 gē

dagger-axe; halberd

戈 dagger-axe, Kangxi radical #62, indexes 戋 under weapons. The original 戔 pictured two clashing blades whittling something down to a sliver - the source of the modern 'small, trifling, meagre' meaning. The simplified form keeps one full 戈 plus the residual stroke above.

ideograph

一 yī

one; single horizontal

Top stroke. Traditional 戔 stacked two 戈 (dagger-axes); the simplification flattened the upper 戈 into this single horizontal line. Read it as a graphic marker of the original twin-halberd structure rather than the number 'one' - a residue of the trim-down.