The word 小孩子 is formed by combining three individual characters: first, 小 (xiǎo), meaning "small", modifies the core character 孩 (hái), which means "child". This 孩 character itself is composed of the radical 子 (child) and the phonetic component 亥 (hài). Finally, another 子 (zi) is added, which here functions as a common, familiar suffix often attached to nouns referring to people, softening the term and making it sound more colloquial and endearing. Thus, the entire formation visually and conceptually layers the idea of "small" onto "child", and then adds a suffix to create a complete, everyday word for a young child.