tellen

English

Wikispecies

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

tellen (plural tellens)

1. (zoology) Archaic spelling of tellin.

Etymology 2

From Middle English tellen, equivalent to tell +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛlən/

Verb

tellen

1. (obsolete, dialectal) plural simple present of tell
   • 1879, Georgina F. Jackson, “KILL, sb.”, in Shropshire Word-book: A Glossary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Etc., Used in the County‎^[1], London: Trübner & Company, page 233:

     They tellen me as them furrin 'tatoes bin kill-dried afore they comen 'ere, so they bin no good fur settin'.

   • 1881, Benjamin Brierly, “Fain”, in Ab-o'th'-yate's Dictionary: Or Walmsley Fowt Skoomester‎^[2], Manchester: Abel Heywood & Son, page 72:

     A dog, when it's had th' tin kettle unteed fro its tail, an' yo' geen it a feed of wut-cake an' milk, an' yo' tellen it to lie deawn upo' th' hearthstone, an' if it's a mind to stop wheere it is it may.

   • 1905 May 13, M. E. Francis, “Mrs Gradwell's Piano”, in Country Life‎^[3], volume XVII, number 436, Country Life, Limited, page 678:

     Hoo'll never do no good at the music, they tellen her up at the school, wi'out hoo practises reg'lar, an' it's unpossible for her to do that wi'out we has a pianney i' the 'ouse.

References

“tellen”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.lə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tel‧len
• Rhymes: -ɛlən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch tellen, from Old Dutch tellen, from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną.

Equivalent to tal (“number”) +‎ -en (“denominative”) or taal (“language”) +‎ -en (“denominative”) and shows the effect of historical umlaut.

Verb

tellen

1. (transitive) to count, to enumerate
2. (transitive) to determine the number of
3. (intransitive) to matter, to be of significance

Conjugation

Conjugation of tellen (weak)
infinitive	tellen
past singular	telde
past participle	geteld
infinitive	tellen
gerund	tellen n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	tel	telde
2nd person sing. (jij)	telt, tel2	telde
2nd person sing. (u)	telt	telde
2nd person sing. (gij)	telt	telde
3rd person singular	telt	telde
plural	tellen	telden
subjunctive sing.1	telle	telde
subjunctive plur.1	tellen	telden
imperative sing.	tel
imperative plur.1	telt
participles	tellend	geteld
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.

Derived terms

• aftellen
• meetellen
• optellen
• tel
• telraam
• vertellen
• zijn knopen tellen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tel
• Berbice Creole Dutch: tali
• Negerhollands: tel
• → Sranan Tongo: teri
  • → Aukan: teli

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

tellen

1. plural of tel

Galician

Verb

tellen

1. inflection of tellar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German tellen, from Old Saxon tellian.

Cognate with Dutch tellen, German zählen, West Frisian telle, English tell, Danish tælle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛlən/

Verb

tellen (past singular tell, past participle tellt, auxiliary verb hebben)

1. to count

Conjugation

Conjugation of tellen (weak verb)

infinitive	tellen
	present	preterite
1st person singular	tell	tell
2nd person singular	tells(t)	tells(t)
3rd person singular	tell(t)	tell
plural	tellt, tellen	tellen
	imperative
singular	tell(e)
plural	tellt
	present	past
participle	tellen	(e)tellt, getellt

Note: This conjugation is one of many.
Neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch tellen

Verb

tellen

1. to count, to calculate
2. to count as, to consider as
3. to tell, to say

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: tellen
• Limburgish: tèlle

Further reading

• “tellen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “tellen (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English tellan, from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną.

Verb

tellen

1. to count
2. to tell

Conjugation

Conjugation of tellen (weak irregular)

infinitive	(to) tellen, telle
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	telle	tolde
2nd-person singular	tellest	toldest
3rd-person singular	telleth	tolde
subjunctive singular	telle
imperative singular		—
plural1	tellen, telle	tolden, tolde
imperative plural	telleth, telle	—
participles	tellynge, tellende	told, ytold

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: tell
• Scots: tell
• Yola: tolth, told (preterite)

References

• “tellen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon tellian. Cognate with Dutch tellen and English tell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tellən/, [t(ʰ)elˠːə̃n] or IPA^(key): /tɛllən/, [t(ʰ)ɛlˠːə̃n]
• The raising of [ɛ] to [e] might have been blocked by /lC/, as this combination prevented a lowering of [ʊ] to [ɔ].

Verb

tellen

1. to count, to tell

Conjugation

Conjugation of tellen as a weak verb

plain infinitive	tellen
full infinitive (gerund)	tô tellene or tô tellende
verbal noun	tellen or tellent
participles			imperative
present	tellende		singular	telle
past	getellet		plural	tellet
	indicative		subjunctive
	present	preterite	present	preterite
1st person singular	telle	tellede	telle	tellede
2nd person singular	tellest	telledest	tellest	telledest
3rd person singular	tellet	tellede	tellet	tellede
plural	tellen (tellet?)	telleden	tellen	telleden

Related terms

• vortellen

Descendants

• Low German: tellen

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *talljan.

Verb

tellen

1. to tell, to say
2. to count

Inflection

Conjugation of tellen (weak class 1 irregular, Rückumlaut)

infinitive	tellen
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	tello, tellon	talda
2nd person singular	tellis, tellist	taldos
3rd person singular	tellit	talda
1st person plural	tellen	taldun
2nd person plural	tellit	taldut
3rd person plural	tellent	taldun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	telle	teldi
2nd person singular	telles, tellest	teldis
3rd person singular	telle	teldi
1st person plural	tellen	teldin
2nd person plural	tellet	teldit
3rd person plural	tellen	teldin
imperative	present
singular	telli
plural	tellit
participle	present	past
	tellendi	talt, gitalt

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: tellen
  • Dutch: tellen
  • Limburgish: tèlle

Further reading

• “tellen”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012