Where does “小島” come from?

小島 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 小, from Old Japanese ささ.

小島 (Japanese): isle, islet, small island

Definitions

  1. isle, islet, small island

Ancestry of “小島”, step by step

小島 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 小

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese小smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;...
2Old Japaneseささ—

via Japanese 島

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese島an island; one's domain, territory, turf
2Middle Chinese島—
Every word from Old Japanese ささ →Every word from Japanese 小 →