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appampi

appa

adjective/neuter noun; appampi is sandhi form of appaṃ + api

1. appa (adj): few; not many; not much
2. appa (adj): short; small; insignificant
3. appa (nt): small amount; little
4. appampi (sandhi): even a little
5. appaṃ (ind): seldomly; infrequently; rarely; lit. little

Built from

• appa — stem · little, few
  Adjective meaning small or scanty in quantity. From *h₂ep- 'to grasp', thus originally 'what slips away or is hard to seize'—hence meager.
• ṃ — ending · accusative singular neuter
  Marks neuter accusative case form, used here adverbially: 'little (thing)'.
• pi — root · even, also
  The particle api (from *h₁epi 'upon, also') adds emphatic or inclusive force: 'even', 'at all'. Cognate to Greek epi 'upon'.

Analysis. appaṃ (neuter accusative singular of appa, 'little') + api (even, also) = 'even a little', emphasizing minimal quantity.

Etymology. appa derives from Indo-European *h₂ep- 'to seize, grasp'; compare Sanskrit apa 'away, off' and Latin habēre 'to have' in the sense of what one grasps or holds—thus originally 'scanty, meager' (what slips through the fingers). The prefix a- (not) + ppa- may also underlie the form, meaning 'not-full'. The particle api 'even' joins to emphasize the smallness.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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