sprechen

Inherited from Middle High German sprëchen, from Old High German sprehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan. Compare Dutch spreken, English speak.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃprɛçən/, [ˈʃpʁɛ-], [ʃprɛ-], [-çn̩], [-çən]

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Audio (Austria):

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sprechen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present spricht, past tense sprach, past participle gesprochen, past subjunctive spräche, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to speak (some language, the truth, etc.)

   Ich spreche Deutsch.

   I speak German.

   Sprich die Wahrheit oder bleib still.

   Speak the truth or remain silent.

   Klartext sprechen ― to speak plainly

2. (intransitive) to speak, to talk, to give a speech [with über (+ accusative) ‘about something’]

   Sprechen Sie bitte langsam.

   Speak slowly please.

3. (transitive) to say, to speak (a word, phrase, sentence, prayer, etc.)

   Was? Du hast kein Wort darüber gesprochen.

   What? You haven't spoken a word about it.

4. (reflexive, of a word) to have a pronunciation; to be pronounced (some way)

   Wie spricht sich das?

   How do you pronounce this?

5. (transitive) to pronounce (a judgment, a verdict, etc.)

   Die Geschichte wird das endgültige Urteil über sein Werk sprechen.

   History will pronounce the final judgement on his work.

6. (transitive, literary, poetic) to say (something)
7. (Switzerland, transitive, officialese) to grant, approve (a loan, funding, etc.)

• (speak): reden (preferred in the vernacular)

• Sprache
• sprachlich
• sprachlos
• Spruch

• → Czech: šprechtit
• → Polish: szprechać
• → Serbo-Croatian: šprȅhati／шпре̏хати
• → Ukrainian: шпрехати (šprexaty)

• “sprechen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “sprechen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “sprechen” in Duden online
• “sprechen” in OpenThesaurus.de

Inherited from Old High German sprehhan, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan.

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈs̠prɛxən/

sprëchen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present sprichet, past tense sprach, past participle gesprochen, past subjunctive spræche, auxiliary hān)

1. to speak

   Vernim, waȥ ich spriche! ― Hear what I say!

• Central Franconian: sjprèche
• German: sprechen
  • → Czech: šprechtit
  • → Polish: szprechać
  • → Serbo-Croatian: šprȅhati／шпре̏хати
  • → Ukrainian: шпрехати (šprexaty)
• Hunsrik: spreche
• Luxembourgish: spriechen

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “sprechen”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel