What is ~てみ form？


I read the following line from a manga:

> 入れてみ？ このスイッチ 入れてみ？

Is てみ an imperative form of てみる, the same way くれ is of くれる? If yes, can verb
stems in general be used in that way?




> Is てみ an imperative form of てみる

(て)み sounds much closer to (て)みて than (て)みろ. That is, (て)み is a casual and
colloquial request rather than a strong imperative.

> If yes, can verb stems in general be used in that way?

No. This み is probably a special case you have to remember. Perhaps (て)やり is
used, too, but it's even rarer. For example, you cannot say き to mean 着て/着ろ.
This み is used only when it works as a subsidiary verb meaning "try ～-ing".

That said, there are different but similar patterns you may be interested in:

  * `お + masu-stem` is a way to make an imperative (although this sounds a little old-fashioned). For example you can say お行き, お食べ, お待ち, etc. See: [Why are dogs asked to 「おすわり」 instead of 「すわれ」](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/55697/5010)
  * In western dialects, you can **elongate** the last vowel of the masu-stem to make an imperative form ([What is the meaning of 「まちいな」?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/34604/5010)) (Non-elongated (て)み does not sound dialectal to me.)




> Is てみ an imperative form of てみる

(て)み sounds much closer to (て)みて than (て)みろ. That is, (て)み is a casual and
colloquial request rather than a strong imperative.

> If yes, can verb stems in general be used in that way?

No. This み is probably a special case you have to remember. Perhaps (て)やり is
used, too, but it's even rarer. For example, you cannot say き to mean 着て/着ろ.
This み is used only when it works as a subsidiary verb meaning "try ～-ing".

That said, there are different but similar patterns you may be interested in:

  * `お + masu-stem` is a way to make an imperative (although this sounds a little old-fashioned). For example you can say お行き, お食べ, お待ち, etc. See: [Why are dogs asked to 「おすわり」 instead of 「すわれ」](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/55697/5010)
  * In western dialects, you can **elongate** the last vowel of the masu-stem to make an imperative form ([What is the meaning of 「まちいな」?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/34604/5010)) (Non-elongated (て)み does not sound dialectal to me.)

