小贩
xiǎo fàn · HSK 7
hawker
🛒 小 small + 贩 to peddle/trade = a small-time seller, a hawker
贩 means to deal or trade in goods; pair it with 小 small and you get the small-scale street seller. The 贝 (shell/money) radical inside 贩 marks it as commerce.
小 — three small strokes around a central vertical
小 is a pictograph originally showing three tiny dots or specks, suggesting small particles or grains. Over time the dots became stylized strokes flanking a central line. The core meaning 'small' has stayed remarkably stable from oracle bone script to today.