An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/lispeln

by Friedrich Kluge

lispeln, vb., ‘to lisp,’ with a diminutive or frequentative suffix from MidHG. and OHG. lispen, vb., ‘to stammer’; never ‘to speak through the lips’ as a derivative of Lefze (see Lippe); it rather represents wlispen (thus in Lower Rhen. in the 15th cent., also by transposition, wilspen?). Comp. AS. wlisp, wlips, OHG. lisp, ‘stammering’; E. to lisp, Du. lispen.