What is the part of speech of “a little” in these sentences?

Question

Here are my guess:

• I can speak English a little. (adverb)
• I can speak a little English. (here “a little” can be adjective describing English or it can be adverb describing speak)

Answer 1

I'd agree in the first case, little is used as an adverb.

In the second example,

I can speak a little English.

it's an adjective. Consider the following:

I can speak a little English and a little Xhosa.

Here it is made clear that each little is referring to each (proper) noun.

Of course, just to confuse the issue, little could even be a noun.

"Would you like some sherbet?"

"I'd like a little."