Dutch has the verb zwijgen, which means remaining silent. Ik zwijg means I remain silent or I say nothing. It is also often used as an imperative, similar to shut up.
I have been discussing this with some native English speakers who have sound understanding of Dutch, and we couldn't come up with a verb in English.
Does it exist?
There is no single word to capture exactly what you're looking for.
First, the difficulties with some suggestions. You're looking for a single word for 'to remain silent'. Forcing in to a single word, the semantic nearby shorter terms don't really capture this well.
'To silence' is a transitive verb — someone is making someone else be quiet. You can say 'to silence oneself' but that has a special ring to it, a very active restraint, too forceful.
'Hush' is a command — it is rare in the non-imperative and then it is a transitive like 'to silence'.
'Shut up' is very much a command like 'hush' and is a bit forceful and rude.
Now for the closest 'way' to say it. The translation of German 'schweigen'/Dutch 'zwijgen'/French 'se taire' is matched best by
'to keep quiet' or 'to remain quiet'.
which is an intransitive statement of state. For example:
"I was told it was a secret so I kept quiet"
"If my boss brings up the incident I'll remain quiet"
Other more colloquial phrasings are 'to keep ones mouth shut' or 'to keep mum'. All these can be used in an imperative manner but don't have to be.
hush (hʌʃ)
interj., v. hushed, hush•ing,
n. interj.
- (used as a command to be silent or quiet.) v.i.
- to become or be silent or quiet. v.t.
- to make silent; silence.
- to suppress mention of; keep concealed (often fol. by up): to hush up a scandal.
- to calm, quiet, or allay: to hush someone's fears. n.
- silence or quiet, esp. after noise; stillness.
[1350–1400; appar. back formation from husht whist2 (Middle English huissht), the -t being taken for past participle suffix]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
In British English, schtum is an informal adjective used to mean remaining silent, e.g.:
It's for the best if nobody hears about any of this business, so if you're asked, make sure to keep schtum.
Although I've personally never heard it used as such, according to Oxford Dictionaries.com schtum can also be used as a verb:
Be or become quiet and non-communicative
The definition page provides a few examples, but I think the following is the most apt to the case provided in the question:
The possible risk being that she schtums and won't tell me the truth or just laughs in my face when I bring it up because it's apparently trivial.
This usage in the active voice sounds pretty jarring to my ear, though. Although I'd probably still think it an unusual word-choice, another example taken from Oxford Dictionaries.com utilising the passive voice sounds far more idiomatic:
This source was schtummed when Julia posted a scathing rebuke on the thread, really very angry.
The word schtum on its own can also be used in the imperative/as an interjection:
Schtum!
Used as an imperative, schtum is not directly equivalent to the example of shut-up given in the question (in the sense of an interjectory command for "Silence!"). Its meaning is more akin to "keeping quiet" about something in the sense of not releasing information.
"tacet" verb
To silence, or remain quiet
[from Latin: it is silent, from tacēre to be quiet]
Consider keep mum and mum's the word.
keep mum: do not talk; especially keep silent about something that may be sensitive or secret
mum's the word: (Idiom) keep quiet; say nothing
Also, quiesce might fit.
quiesce: to become quiet or quieter; fall silent: The audience quiesced as the speaker entered
One of the older senses of "demur" is to hesitate or refuse to speak about something because one disagrees with it, but I'm not sure that's the word you're looking for.
Another command meaning "silence yourself" is dummy up.
Dummy up defined at Dictionary.com: Informal. to keep silent; refuse to answer: If anybody asks you, just dummy up.
Mute can be used as a verb. In ordinary English it normally means to deaden a sound rather than to completely silence it ("the response from the Japanese was muted"), but since almost every remote control on the planet has a mute button which silences all sound, one could use it to mean "to silence".
To silence is a verb:
To make silent or bring to silence.
In thinking about the French (se taire?), there is a pronoun associated with the verb; tais-toi is silence yourself.
It's not a single word, but it is a verb, much like the French.
There is also quietentr. & intr.v. Chiefly British
To make or become quiet.
I'd say "mum", as "He was mum about the incident."
I don't know why no one has really mentioned this yet:
The word is indeed quiet.
When telling someone to stop making noise and remain silent, many times people will simply say "Quiet." In a fuller sentence, people sometimes say "I quieted the dog."
Likewise, people use quiet to refer to themselves or another who did not make noise for a time. They might say "I quieted." It is grammatically correct, but feels clunky; I personally wouldn't say it like that, but as "I quieted down" More naturally in speech, people usually say "I was quiet." In this sense, however, quiet is actually an adjective, but I would bet that this dutch word, zwijgen, would be translated as such, depending on the context, because it is more familiar.
There are many different ways, depending on whether it's someone being told or ordered to be silent (Hush, Shut up, Silence, Be quiet, Quiet down, Put a sock in it, Shhh, etc.) or whether they're voluntarily being silent, and at that, willingly or out of fear (I'll be quiet, My lips are sealed, etc.). Someone or an animal may be quieted or silenced. An inanimate device may be muted or the volume turned down.
In the US, you may hear the expression "I take the Fifth". This is in reference to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which gives you the right to not incriminate yourself (be silent about some accusation). Of course, anyone who actually says that is immediately presumed guilty (by most people) of whatever they're accused of, by simply taking the Fifth.
I'll bite my tongue
I'll keep that under my hat
I'll keep that to myself
all could mean to remain silent depending on the circumstance
To speak is an act one could desist from. Cease-and-desist letters are often used to silence people for copyright and slander reasons.
Zwijgen. Ik zwijg. Zwijg!
Desisting. I desist. Desist!
"Stop" works better, but also better than "zwijgen".
Actions speak louder than words.
