小鳥

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 小鳥 is a noun read ことり, meaning a small bird. In the written form, 小 supplies the small-size description and 鳥 identifies the animal.
• Basic usage: Birds are counted with 羽, as in 一羽, while an injured bird being allowed to rest is expressed with an object marker and a causative verb.
  • 窓辺に小鳥が一羽止まった。 describes one small bird perching by a window; けがをした小鳥を箱に入れて休ませた。 describes placing an injured small bird in a box and letting it rest.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 小鳥が一羽
  • The bird counter 羽 is read わ in 一羽, and the full expression states that there is one small bird.
• 小鳥を休ませた
  • 休ませた means that someone allowed or caused the bird to rest, not simply that the bird rested by itself; を marks that bird as the affected object.
• 小鳥 and 鳥
  • 鳥 broadly denotes a bird without specifying size, while 小鳥 explicitly describes a small bird.