What is ~てみ form？

Question

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?

Answer 1

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」
• 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」?) (Non-elongated (て)み does not sound dialectal to me.)

Answer 2

入れてみ？ このスイッチ 入れてみ？

Turn this, turn this switch on.
〜み is short for 〜みろ

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[give] くれ is an imperative form of くれる/呉れる
ください is a polite word/expression for this.

Answer 3

Note: I am speaking from a Hakata point of view

Dialectally this can be a (soft) imperative form of してみる, like してみたら？. It is often like a suggestion, but the "strength" of it depends on your intonation and it can be nuanced with other particles. I would rather write it as してみぃ　or してみりぃ

It can be used for other words as well:

こっちきぃ　ー　from 来る
本読んどきぃ ー from 読んでおく
読みぃ　ー　from 読む
勉強しぃ　ー　from する
食べりぃ　ー　from 食べる
作ってあげりぃよ　ー　from あげる

This usage is more common among girls, but can also be used sometimes by men albeit with a somewhat less pronounced "softening" of the end syllable.