wispern
Appearance
German
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]17th century, from Low German wispern, chiefly displacing the above variant, from Middle High German and Middle Low German wispelen, ultimately of imitative origin (lautmalend).
The r-form could be a late alteration, but could also be old in view of Old English hwisprian, whence English whisper.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]wispern (weak, third-person singular present wispert, past tense wisperte, past participle gewispert, auxiliary haben)
- to whisper; to make a whispering sound (most often in a mysterious or eerie way)
- „Du wirst die Wahrheit bald erfahren“, wisperte sie.
- “You will soon know the truth”, she whispered.
- Ich lief durch den dunklen Wald, wo alles zu wispern und zu rauschen schien.
- I walked through the dark forest, where everything seemed to be whispering and rustling.
Usage notes
[edit]- The more general word for “to whisper” (to speak without voice) is flüstern.
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | wispern | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | wispernd | ||||
past participle | gewispert | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich wispre ich wispere ich wisper |
wir wispern | i | ich wispere ich wispre |
wir wispern |
du wisperst | ihr wispert | du wisperest du wisprest |
ihr wisperet ihr wispret | ||
er wispert | sie wispern | er wispere er wispre |
sie wispern | ||
preterite | ich wisperte | wir wisperten | ii | ich wisperte1 | wir wisperten1 |
du wispertest | ihr wispertet | du wispertest1 | ihr wispertet1 | ||
er wisperte | sie wisperten | er wisperte1 | sie wisperten1 | ||
imperative | wispre (du) wisper (du) wispere (du) |
wispert (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Categories:
- German terms borrowed from Low German
- German terms derived from Low German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle Low German
- German onomatopoeias
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German weak verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German terms with usage examples