Context is needed for differentiation.
There is no difference between “下次見“ and ”下次見“ unless you say it out。If you space the three words (spoken words) evenly as in (xia⁴ci⁴jian⁴) it means “see you next time”, 見 is see “下次” is next time.
下 alone means “down” or a command for action or to execute an action or object. In this case “次見“ can mean “secondary view or opinion” – execute the next “見“ (意见/见解)。Of course we don’t speak like that but in certain context it may be the case”。So 下 alone is to “execute” like 下订单 (to place an order for goods)。次 is second, 下次 is next time，見/见 is “see”。
so “xia⁴ci⁴ jian⁴” may be different from “xia⁴ ci⁴jian⁴” but there is no difference between “xia⁴ ci⁴ jian⁴” and “xia⁴ci⁴jian⁴” just don’t pause between the words.
Xia⁴ or 下 is the “operative” word here. The key feature is 丶which “point to” 丨of 丅 (for top?) below the top. In contrast 上 which means “up” has half of “一“ midway of 丄。工 is 丨connecting the top and bottom of 二。干 is like 丅 with 一 in the middle but all the way across, a cross is 十 which is 王 without top and bottom。田tian² is field 囗guo² without 王 and 丶zhu³。
国 is 囗 with 王 and 丶。It is like 田field planted with 丶seed。The seed grew in the field which became 因 where 大 is picture of man who is 玉 a King 王 with the same 丶as 下。下來 is to come down。來 is the upper part of 麥 which wheat which is made into bread。
This “thread” is far from complete but it is 丝 that lead 牵/牽 us to 牛 and to the story of 牛郎织女。
下”次見”, if you have any，comment below (下面）ehh … 麵 anyone？