て form followed by て, 「見てて」


I have heard a couple of times now the て form of a verb followed by て (or
perhaps it was って?) used as an imperative. Some examples are 見てて and 黙ってて,
when asking someone to look and be quiet respectively.

I am also aware of [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/948/what-does-the-
final-%E3%81%A6-in-%E5%BE%85%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%A6-signify), but in that
circumstance, the listener is being asked to "stay waiting" as I understand.
However, in the case of 見てて, this interpretation seems odd when all that's
needed is a quick look. (A child was asking the father to look at a toy)

I assume the phrase is still a contraction of 見ていて, but how should I
understand it, and what is the difference between this and 見て? What about
other verbs?

**Edit**

[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbQCbTYX3U&feature=youtu.be&t=5m53s)
is an example usage of 見てて in a similar situation.




I think you have almost grasped the "tournure" and I have few to contribute,
but...

> I assume the phrase is still a contraction of 見ていて

That's correct. As for the example, the girl in the film says おとう、見てて. That
corresponds to "Look at me (doing this), Dad."

> it would mean something like "check out this website (and continue doing so
> for a nontrivial period of time)"? Similarly, 黙ってて would mean "be quiet, and
> stay quiet"?

Yes, I guess so. Of course, you need context to be more precise, but I can
hardly think of other possibilities.




I think you have almost grasped the "tournure" and I have few to contribute,
but...

> I assume the phrase is still a contraction of 見ていて

That's correct. As for the example, the girl in the film says おとう、見てて. That
corresponds to "Look at me (doing this), Dad."

> it would mean something like "check out this website (and continue doing so
> for a nontrivial period of time)"? Similarly, 黙ってて would mean "be quiet, and
> stay quiet"?

Yes, I guess so. Of course, you need context to be more precise, but I can
hardly think of other possibilities.

