Etymology

cp. OIcel skifta, skipta ‘to divide; shift, change; exchange’ < PGmc *skiptjan- or *skipatjan-. Though it has sometimes been derived from ON, late OE sciftan ‘to appoint, ordain, arrange’  is in all probability cognate with the ON word, and the source of PDE shift; cp. OFris skifta, MLG schiften, schichten, MHG schihten.

PGmc Ancestor

*skiptjan- or *skipatjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

skifta, skipta ‘to divide; shift, change; exchange’ 
(ONP skifta (vb.), skipta (CV))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far skifta, Icel skipta, Norw skifta, ODan skiftæ, Dan skifte, OSw skipta, Sw skifta

OE Cognate

?sciftan ‘to appoint, ordain, arrange’ 

Phonological and morphological markers

absence of palatalization of */sk/

Summary category

A1ac

Attestation

Not known before c.1400; mainly, but not entirely (e.g. Malory Wks.(Win-C)), N and E and alliterative.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 19; Pe 569; Cl 709; WA 467, 4622, 5040

TPD supply an additional instance at WA 4150.

Bibliography

MED skiften (v.) , OED skift (v.1) , HTOED , Dance skyfted, Bj. 126, SPS 455, CV skipta, de Vries skipta, Mag. skipta, Orel *skiftjanan, AEW sciftan