Wespe
German
editEtymology
editFrom Middle High German wefse, webse, wespe, from Old High German wefsa. The forms with -sp- come from Middle Low German wespe, from Old Saxon waspa (10th century, alongside older wepsia), spreading to Middle High German in the 12th century.
Some Upper German dialects retain the original consonantism to this day, e.g. Swabian Wefz, Bavarian Weps, Wepsn, Webasn, Webes. The spread of -sp- was reinforced, if not triggered, by Latin vespa. Popular association with the verb wispeln from Old High German hwispalōn (“to whir, to whisper”) is also likely; compare Central Franconian Wespel (“wasp”). Both the High German and the Low German forms go back to Proto-West Germanic *waspijā, a variant of *wapsu.
Cognates include Dutch wesp, English wasp, French guêpe. These are often traced back to Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wobʰseh₂ (“wasp”), pertaining to *webʰ- (“to weave”). There are some formal problems to this particular reconstruction, however, most importantly the fact that Proto-Germanic *wapsō is an anomalous form lacking the expected effect of Primärberührung.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editWespe f (genitive Wespe, plural Wespen)
- wasp (insect)
Declension
editHyponyms
editRelated terms
editFurther reading
edit- “Wespe” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
- “Wespe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Wespe” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Wespe” in Duden online
Hunsrik
editPronunciation
editNoun
editWespe f
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms derived from Middle Low German
- German terms derived from Old Saxon
- German terms derived from Latin
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German feminine nouns
- de:Vespids
- Hunsrik 2-syllable words
- Hunsrik terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hunsrik non-lemma forms
- Hunsrik noun forms