Etymology

ME irken, PDE irk is a very troublesome word and some (e.g. TG, TGD) are unconvinced by any of the many suggested etymologies. The most plausible are: (1) Formally, it could be derived from the ON v. represented by OIcel yrkja ‘to work, till, cultivate; make verses, compose; (reflex.) take effect’ < PGmc *wurkjan (cp. Go waúrkjan, OE wyrcan, OHG wurken, wurchen)(thus Knigge 1885: 79, Skeat 1882, Sweet 1888: 324). The sense development from the ON to the ME, however, remains difficult to account for, although the N distribution of the word motivates OED (followed by ODEE) to try. (1b) Emerson (1927: 257, followed by McGee 336) sees the instance at Gaw 1573 as a loan as in (1), but a unique survival, separate from the ME v. irken (PDE irk). (2) A potential comparison with the early MnHG v. erken, erkel(e)n 'to feel disgust' (and MHG adj. erklich 'unpleasant') is occasionally cited (thus Strat, Strat-Brad, GDS, OED, Kluge-Seebold). While it fits well with the sense, the etymology of this HG erk-root is very uncertain (see further Pokorny, Kluge-Seebold). (3) MED suggests instead loan from Celtic (cp. OIr arcoat ‘he injures’, erchóat ‘harm, injury’ (i.e. Ir airchót; cp. We argywedd), erchóitech ‘harmful’ (i.e. Ir airchóitech)), which is attractive semantically, but will not account very well for the form of ME irk-. (4) It may simply represent a relatively recent formation imitative of disgust.

PGmc Ancestor

(1) *wurkjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

yrkja ‘to work, till, cultivate; make verses, compose; (reflex.) take effect’
(ONP (1)  yrkja (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

runic Norw worahto, orte, runic Dan w[u]r[t]a, runic Sw wurte, urti, Far yrkja, Icel yrkja, Norw yrkja, Dan dial. ørke, OSw yrkia, Sw yrka

OE Cognate

(1) wyrcan 'to prepare, perform, do, make, construct, produce, effect'

Phonological and morphological markers

[absence of palatalization of */k/] (possibly diagnostic)

[ON loss of */w/ before rounded vowel] (possibly diagnostic)

Summary category

DD1c

Attestation

Predominantly N, EM and E Angl in ME (as far S as c1330 Horn Child (Auch), MED’s earliest citation) with rare exceptions (e.g. c1450(a1425) Mirk IPP (Cld A.2)).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 1573

Bibliography

MED irken (v.) , OED irk (v.) , HTOED , ODEE irk, EDD irk (v. and sb.), Dance irked, Bj. 146; (1) de Vries yrki, Mag. yrkja, Orel *wurkjanan, Kroonen *wurkjan-, AEW wyrcan; (2) Pokorny I.14, Kluge-Seebold Ekel, Grimm and Grimm erkeln; erken; (3) Matasović *fare-kom-wed-o, GPC argywedd, eDIL airchót ; airchóitech