sprecan

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sprekan.

Verb

sprecan

  1. to speak

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Middle Dutch: sprēken
    • Dutch: spreken
    • Limburgish: spraeke

Further reading
  • “sprekan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Alternative forms
  • spreocan, spræcan, specan (later form)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sprekan.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈspre.kɑn/

Verb

sprecan

  1. to speak, talk
    • c. 890s, The Voyage of Ohthere and Wulfstan
      Þā Finnas, him þūhte, and þā Beormas sprǣcon nēah ān ġeþēode.
      The Sami, it seemed to him, and the Bjarmians spoke almost the same language.
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 4:27
      His leornungcneohtas wundrodon þæt hē wiþ wīf spræc, þēah heora nān ne cwæþ "Hwæt sēcst þū?" oþþe "Hwæt spricst þū wiþ hīe?"
      His disciples were amazed that he was talking to a woman, though none of them said "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking to her?"

Usage notes
  • To talk to or with someone was expressed using tō + dative or wiþ + accusative, not with mid.

Conjugation
Conjugation of sprecan (strong class 5)
infinitive sprecan sprecenne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular sprece spræc
second person singular spricst sprǣce
third person singular spricþ spræc
plural sprecaþ sprǣcon
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular sprece sprǣce
plural sprecen sprǣcen
imperative
singular sprec
plural sprecaþ
participle present past
sprecende (ġe)sprecen

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.