fesfes

Maltese

Root
f-s-f-s

Etymology

From Arabic وَسْوَسَ‎ (waswasa). The replacement of /w/ with voiceless /f/ is onomatopoetic; moreover it simplifies the formation of the conjugated forms since forms like weswsu would have to be contracted (compare werwer).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.fɛs/

Verb

fesfes (imperfect jfesfes)

to whisper
to hiss

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