dada
noun
Sister, especially an older sister. Also a familiar term of address or affection.
Use dada for a sister. Historical usage also records it as an affectionate address among women.
Origins
Dada is an older Swahili kinship word, also recorded as an affectionate address among women. Its deeper history is uncertain; a proposed borrowing route still needs confirmation.
Sources3
Haspelmath and Tadmor / Lexibank, World Loanword Database CLDF (2009), wold-master/cldf/forms.csv row 4495.
Dada is coded as noun class 9/10.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (1903), 77.
Sister, especially elder sister; a term of endearment among women.
Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas, Kiswahili Glossary, Glossary: dada.
Sister, especially elder sister; a term of endearment among women.
Examples
Dada yangu anaitwa Asha.
My sister is called Asha.
Nina dada wawili.
I have two sisters.
Dada yangu mkubwa anaishi hapa.
My older sister lives here.
Dada yako atakuja lini?
When will your sister come?
Ninamsubiri dada yangu.
I am waiting for my sister.
Nilimpigia dada yangu simu.
I called my sister.
Dada zangu wanasoma.
My sisters are studying.
Huyu ni dada yangu.
This is my sister.
Dada, karibu ukae.
Sister, come and sit down.
