kidogo
adverb
a little; a small amount.
It can describe doing something a little or having a small amount: chumvi kidogo, a little salt.
Origins
Kidogo is built from the ki- class prefix plus -dogo, “small,” a root inherited from Proto-Bantu.
Sources4
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), PDF page 80.
Distinguishes adjectival -dogo from adverbial kidogo. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884), PDF page 128.
Records kidogo as a substantive for a little or a small piece. Historical Zanzibar evidence.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), kidogo glossary rows.
Illustrates a small amount with chumvi and kazi, and a little with -penda.
- dogo (Wiktionary)
States -dogo (“small”) is inherited from Proto-Bantu, cross-referenced as Bantu Lexical Reconstructions entry 7192.
Examples
Ongeza sukari kidogo.
Add a little sugar.
Ngoja kidogo.
Wait a little.
Anajua Kiswahili kidogo.
He knows a little Swahili.
Nataka maji kidogo.
I want a little water.
Aliongea kidogo tu.
He only spoke a little.
Kuna chakula kidogo kilichobaki.
There is a little food left.
Nipe keki kidogo.
Give me a little cake.
Tafadhali, nisaidie kidogo.
Please, help me a little.
Bei imepungua kidogo.
The price has decreased slightly.
