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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?
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2020-05-13T15:35:19.387
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て-form
What is ~てみ form？
> 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

* * *

[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.
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2020-05-13T23:53:50.870
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> 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.)
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2020-05-14T05:52:07.273
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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.
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