From Middle High German wabelen, merged with related Middle Low German *wabbelen. To the former compare Old Norse vafla, to the latter dialectal Dutch wobbelen, English wabble, wobble. All of these are iteratives of Proto-Germanic *wabōną, whence Middle High German waben (“to move about”), Old English wafian (modern English wave).
In the High German form, the -bb- is due to blocking of open-syllable lengthening, which is fairly common before the syllables -el- and -er-. In the Low German form it must be due to expressive gemination.
wabbeln (weak, third-person singular present wabbelt, past tense wabbelte, past participle gewabbelt, auxiliary haben)
Cognate with English wobble and wabble.
wabbeln (past singular wabbel, past participle wabbelt, auxiliary verb hebben)
| infinitive | wabbeln | |
|---|---|---|
| indicative | present | preterite |
| 1st person singular | wabbel | wabbel |
| 2nd person singular | wabbelst | wabbelst |
| 3rd person singular | wabbelt | wabbel |
| plural | wabbelt | wabbeln |
| imperative | present | — |
| singular | wabbel | |
| plural | wabbelt | |
| participle | present | past |
| wabbel | wabbelt | |
| Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. | ||