Etymology
The vocalism of ME
merk is probably best accounted for as showing the
i-mutation expected in a reflex of PGmc
*markja-, a neut.
ja-stem represented in ON, cp. OIcel
merki ‘landmark, boundary; mark, token, sign, banner; significance, importance; remains, traces’, OS
-gimerki, OHG
gimerchi and (seemingly) by OE
gemerce (WS
*gemierce). If so, non-palatalization of /k/ could be symptom of ON input (but as it is non-initial, it is not a secure test) and most authorities suggest at least some ON influence (thus
OED,
MED, BJ. TGD, GDS and see also e.g. Kluge 1901: 940, 942, McGee 341, Jordan-Crook §59 Rem. 1).
*Markja- is usually explained as a derivative on PGmc
*markan ‘mark, landmark’, cp. OIcel
mark, OFris
merke, MLG
mark, OHG
marc; there is also the (probably) related fem.
ō-stem
*markō, cp. Go
marka ‘region, border’, OIcel
mǫrk ‘forest’, OE
mearc ‘mark, boundary, sign (etc.)’, OFris
merke, OS
marka, OHG
marca ‘boundary’. It is thus very plausible that ME variants in
-k- might also have been influenced by OE
mearc (Bj.); and in theory ME
merk can be derived wholesale from an Angl.
merc with smoothing (see Jordan-Crook §59 Rem. 1). There is also the possibility of influence from OFr
merc, AF
merk(e) ‘distinguishing mark, sign’ (a loan from Gmc.) (Luick §363 Anm. 5,
MED, Diensberg 2006: 46).
PGmc Ancestor
*markja-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
merki ‘landmark, boundary; mark, token, sign, banner; significance, importance; remains, traces’
(ONP merki (1) (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far merki, Icel merki, Norw merke, Dan mærke, Sw märke
OE Cognate
gemerce (WS *gemierce) 'boundary, limit; mark, sign'; cp. mearc ‘mark, boundary, sign (etc.)’
Phonological and morphological markers
[absence of palatalization of */k/]
(possibly diagnostic)
Summary category
CC2