小刀

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	knife
simp. and trad. (小刀)		小	刀

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǎodāo

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄉㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² dou¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sió-to

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎodāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄉㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎodao
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-tao¹
    • Yale: syǎu-dāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaudau
    • Palladius: сяодао (sjaodao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎodāor
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄉㄠㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎodaor
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-tao¹-ʼrh
    • Yale: syǎu-dāur
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaudaul
    • Palladius: сяодаор (sjaodaor)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ taʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu² dou¹
    • Yale: síu dōu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu² dou¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu² dou¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ tou̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sió-to
    • Tâi-lô: sió-to
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sioy'doy
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /sio⁵³⁻⁴⁴ to⁴⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /sio⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ to³³/
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /sio⁵³⁻⁴⁴ to⁴⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /sio⁵³⁻⁴⁴ to⁴⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ tɤ⁴⁴/

Noun

小刀

1. pocketknife; penknife (Classifier: 把 m)
2. shortsword

Synonyms

• (pocketknife):

Dialectal synonyms of 小刀 (“pocketknife; penknife”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		小刀, 刀子
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	刀子, 小刀兒
	Taiwan	小刀
	Harbin	刀子
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	刀子, 小刀兒
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	刀子
	Xi'an	小刀兒, 刀刀兒, 刀刀子, 刀子
Lanyin Mandarin	Ürümqi	刀刀子
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	刀刀兒, 刀兒
	Wuhan	刀子, 刀
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	刀子, 小刀
	Hefei	小刀子, 小刀
Cantonese	Guangzhou	刀仔
	Hong Kong	刀仔
	Taishan	刀仔
	Dongguan	刀仔
	Yangjiang	刀仔
Gan	Nanchang	刀子
	Lichuan	刀崽
	Pingxiang	小刀仔
Hakka	Meixian	刀仔
Jin	Taiyuan	刀刀, 刀子, 小刀兒
Northern Min	Jian'ou	刀仔
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	刀囝
Southern Min	Xiamen	刀仔, 刀仔囝
	Quanzhou	刀仔
	Zhangzhou	刀仔囝
	Tainan	刀仔 GT
	Chaozhou	刀囝
	Leizhou	刀囝
	Haikou	刀囝
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	刀崽
Wu	Suzhou	小刀
	Hangzhou	刀兒
	Wenzhou	刀兒
Xiang	Changsha	細刀子, 刀子
	Shuangfeng	細刀子
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Derived terms

• 小刀會 / 小刀会 (Xiǎodāohuì)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
小	刀
しょう Grade: 1	とう Grade: 2
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 小刀 (sjew^X taw, literally “small + blade”). Compare modern Mandarin reading xiǎodāo, Cantonese siu² dou¹, Min Nan sió-to.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːto̞ː]
• (Tokyo) しょーとー [shòótóó] (Heiban – [0])

Noun

小(しょう)刀(とう) • (shōtō) ^{←せうたう (seutau)?}

1. small knife, short sword

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
小	刀
こ Grade: 1	かたな > がたな Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Compound of 小(こ) (ko-, “little”) + 刀(かたな) (katana, “sword, blade”). The katana changes to gatana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ɡa̠ta̠na̠]
• (Tokyo) こがたな [kògátáꜜnà] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) こがたな [kògáꜜtànà] (Nakadaka – [2])

Noun

小(こ)刀(がたな) • (kogatana) 

1. small knife, short sword

Usage notes

• The kogatana reading is more common than shōtō.

Derived terms

• 小刀細工(こがたなざいく) (kogatana-zaiku): carving with a knife

See also

• 大刀(たち) (tachi), 太刀(たち) (tachi)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
小	刀
ちい(さ) Grade: 1	かたな > がたな Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
小さ刀

Compound of 小さ (chīsa, “small”, the stem of adjective 小さい chīsai) +‎ 刀 (katana, “sword, blade”). The katana changes to gatana as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕiːsa̠ɡa̠ta̠na̠]
• (Tokyo) ちいさがたな [chìíságáꜜtànà] (Nakadaka – [4])

Noun

小(ちいさ)刀(がたな) • (chīsagatana) 

1. a specific kind of short sword without a hilt guard

References

• “小刀”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026