Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗noun
A whisper
verb
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryTo listen attentively.
From Middle English herken, herkien, from Old English *hercian, *heorcian, *hiercian, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀikōn, *hauʀukōn, derived ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”) + formative/intensive -k (see also the related hīeran, whence English hear). Equivalent to hear + -k. Cognate with Scots herk (“to hark”), North Frisian harke (“to hark”), West Frisian harkje (“to listen”), obsolete Dutch horken (“to hark, listen to”), Middle Low German horken (“to hark”), German horchen (“to hark, harken to”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "herken"
},
"expansion": "Middle English herken"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "*hercian"
},
"expansion": "Old English *hercian"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*hauʀikōn"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hauʀikōn"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"2": "gem-pro",
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"4": "",
"5": "to hear"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”)"
},
{
"name": "suffix",
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},
"expansion": "hear + -k"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "herk",
"3": "",
"4": "to hark"
},
"expansion": "Scots herk (“to hark”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "harke",
"3": "",
"4": "to hark"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian harke (“to hark”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "harkje",
"3": "",
"4": "to listen"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian harkje (“to listen”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "horken",
"3": "",
"4": "to hark, listen to"
},
"expansion": "Dutch horken (“to hark, listen to”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "horken",
"3": "",
"4": "to hark"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German horken (“to hark”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "horchen",
"3": "",
"4": "to hark, harken to"
},
"expansion": "German horchen (“to hark, harken to”)"
}
],
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[
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"herken#Middle_English"
],
[
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],
[
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"Reconstruction:Old English/hercian"
],
[
"*heorcian",
"Reconstruction:Old English/heorcian"
],
[
"*hiercian",
"Reconstruction:Old English/hiercian"
],
[
"*hauʀikōn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hauʀikōn"
],
[
"*hauʀukōn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hauʀukōn"
],
[
"*hauzijaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hauzijaną"
],
[
"-k",
"-k#English"
],
[
"hīeran",
"hieran#Old_English"
],
[
"hear",
"hear#English"
],
[
"hear",
"hear#English"
],
[
"-k",
"-k#English"
],
[
"herk",
"herk#Scots"
],
[
"harke",
"harke#North_Frisian"
],
[
"harkje",
"harkje#West_Frisian"
],
[
"horken",
"horken#Dutch"
],
[
"horken",
"horken#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"horchen",
"horchen#German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A whisper"
],
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{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To listen attentively."
],
"tags": [
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