The Chinese word 小刀 (xiǎodāo, meaning "pocketknife" or "small knife") is a compound word formed through a straightforward modifier-head structure common in Chinese morphology. It combines the character 小 (xiǎo), meaning "small," which acts as a descriptive modifier, with the character 刀 (dāo), meaning "knife," which serves as the core noun or head. The resulting meaning is derived literally from the sum of its parts—a "small knife"—demonstrating how Chinese frequently creates new terms by logically pairing simple, concrete characters to specify a particular subcategory of an object.