少 from HSK Level 1 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 少 (shǎo) is composed of two parts: the radical 幺 (yāo) and the phonetic component 召 (zhào). The radical 幺, which means "small" or "few", is a pictograph of a person with a small body. The phonetic component 召, which is pronounced shào, is a pictograph of a hand holding a whip. The combination of these two components suggests the idea of "small" or "few".The character 少 has a rich history and has been used in Chinese for thousands of years. It is one of the most common characters in the Chinese language and is used in a variety of words and phrases. For example, it can be used to mean "few", "small", "young", or "a little". It can also be used as a suffix to indicate a diminutive or to express affection.The character 少 is also used in many Chinese idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 少不更事 (shǎo bù gèng shì) means "young and inexperienced", while the proverb 少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲 (shǎo zhuàng bù nǔ lì, lǎo dà tú shāng bēi) means "If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll only regret it when you're old".The character 少 is a versatile and important character in the Chinese language. It is a character that is worth learning for any HSK learner.