belfern

German

Alternative forms

belfzen (since the 16th century)
belfen (since the 18th century)

Etymology

Unknown. Probably from bellen (“to bark”) with the iterative suffix +‎ -ern. The -f- is explainable either as a phonetic intensification, onomatopoeia, or by influence of other dog-related sound vocabulary (Middle High German baffen, German kläffen); compare also the pair gellen and gelfern, gelfen. Attested since the first half of the 16th century (earliest attestation given below).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛlfɐn/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: bel‧fern

Verb

belfern (weak, third-person singular present belfert, past tense belferte, past participle gebelfert, auxiliary haben)

(dated, colloquial, also figuratively) to bark
Synonym: bellen
- 1544, Martin Luther‎:
  Die Seele sagt: Ich mus milde, züchtig, keusch, demütig, geduldig sein etc. und nach dem künfftigen leben trachten, Das Fleisch belfert dawieder: Ey, was Himel? hette ich hie melh und brot, gelt und guts gnug etc.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1949, Rudolf Baumgardt, Fernando Magallan: die Geschichte der ersten Weltumseglung‎, B. Funck, →OCLC, page 237:
  Von den Karavellen lodern bengalische Fontänen, die Kanonen belfern, der grelle Blitz aus den Schlünden bohrt blutige Bahnen in die Schatten der seltsamen, sinnlichen Nacht.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

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