The word 矮子 (ǎizi), meaning "a short person" or "dwarf", is a compound formed through a common morphological process in Chinese. It combines the adjective 矮 (ǎi), meaning "short in stature", with the noun suffix 子 (zi), which often nominalizes adjectives or verbs to create a noun referring to a person characterized by that trait. Thus, the structure is semantically transparent: "short" + [personifying suffix] results in "a short person". This pattern is analogous to other words like 胖子 (pàngzi, "fat person") or 傻子 (shǎzi, "fool").