*wurkijaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *wurkijaną in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] with the past *wurhtē and the past participle *wurhtaz in Ringe's principal parts.^[2] Kroonen cites the stem *wurkjan-,^[3] Orel writes *wurkjanan^[4] and Köbler *wurkjan;^[5] Bammesberger segments it *wurk-ijan-,^[6] and LÄGLOS writes *wurkijan-.^[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥ǵyéti (“(s)he works”), a present of the root *werǵ- "to work".^[8][1] Kroonen reconstructs the PIE present as *urǵ-ie- and calls it identical with the Young Avestan verb for "to do, to act".^[3]

Morphology

A class I weak verb, one of the five such verbs that Ringe reconstructs with no linking vowel before the suffix of the past: *wurkijaną, *wurhtē, *wurhtaz.^[2] Bammesberger lists it among the jan-verbs whose "rückumlaut" preterites are attested in more than one Germanic language.^[6] Ringe counts these verbs with anomalous pasts among the presents that had the voiceless Verner alternants of the endings.^[9] Kroonen describes the verb as a zero-grade ie-present related to the noun *werką, beside which stood a mixed strong and weak verb *werkjan- with the past *warht-.^[3] Riecke attaches the verb directly to the root *uerǵ- as a zero-grade yo-present.^[10]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waurkjan) in Gothic, Old Norse yrkja in Old Norse, and Old English wyrcan, Old Saxon workian and Old High German wurken in West Germanic.^[3][4] The past is recorded early in runic inscriptions: the first person singular Proto-Norse ᚹᛟᚱᚨᚺᛏᛟ (worahto) on the Tune stone,^[11][1] which Antonsen dates to 400 AD,^[12] and the third person singular Proto-Norse ᚹᚢᚱᛏᛖ (wurte) on the Tjurkö bracteate I, which Looijenga equates with *wurhtē.^[11] Antonsen dates the bracteate to about 500,^[13] and Looijenga notes that it was found in a hoard with solidi of Theodosius II.^[11] Krause and Jankuhn explain wurte from early Proto-Norse *wurhtē with loss of the h between consonants.^[14] The verb was also borrowed into Finnic: LÄGLOS derives Finnish pyrkiä (“to strive, to aspire”) from *wurkijan-, Proto-Norse *wurkijan.^[7]

Competing analyses

Kroonen puts Old Frisian werkia, Old Saxon wirka and Old High German wirchen under the e-grade verb *werkjan-,^[3] and Köbler also derives the Old Frisian verb from *wirkjan;^[15] Orel lists werka under *wurkjanan.^[4] Orel derives the verb from the noun *werkan,^[4] whereas Kroonen makes the noun a derivative of the verbal root.^[16] Wiktionary gives the e-grade verb its own entry, *wirkijaną.^[1]

Meanings

1. to work, to do work^[3][5][1][2]
2. to make, to produce, to effect^[3][5][1]

Old Norse also used the verb for "to compose verses",^[3] and Old English for "to earn, to gain".^[17]

Derivatives

• *wurhtaz "done, made", the past participle,^[18] which Orel writes *wurxtaz,^[19] with the abstract noun *wurxtiz "deed".^[20]
• *wurxstwan "work", known only from Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃𐍄𐍅 (waurstw), which Orel equates with an Avestan word meaning "to be done";^[21] Kroonen writes *wurhstwa-.^[3]
• Orel's neuter *wurkjan "work", as in Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 (gawaurki, “business”).^[22]
• With prefixes: *frawurkijaną "to do wrong, to sin" and *uzwurkijaną "to achieve by labour".^[23][24]
• The compound *handuwurhtaz "made by hand".^[25]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waurkjan, “to work, to do, to make”)^[26][27]
• Proto-Norse: ᚹᛟᚱᚨᚺᛏᛟ (worahto) and ᚹᚢᚱᛏᛖ (wurte), past forms^[11]
• Old Norse: yrkja (“to work, to make”)^[28]
• Old English: wyrcan (“to work, to make, to do, to bring about”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: werka (“to work, to build, to repair”), in Orel's list^[4][29]
• Old Saxon: workian (“to work”)^[30]
• Old High German: wurken (“to work, to bring about, to create, to do”)^[31]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurkijaną
2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 281
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 600
4. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wurkjanan
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wurkjan
6. ^ a b Bammesberger, Alfred (1986), Der Aufbau des germanischen Verbalsystems, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 78
7. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 90
8. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 109
9. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 208
10. ^ Riecke, Jörg (1996), Die schwachen jan-Verben des Althochdeutschen: Ein Gliederungsversuch, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 683
11. ^ a b c d Looijenga, Tineke (2003), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 218
12. ^ Antonsen, Elmer H. (1975), A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Sprachstrukturen A 3, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. no. 27
13. ^ Antonsen, Elmer H. (1975), A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Sprachstrukturen A 3, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. Tjurkö bracteate 1
14. ^ Krause, Wolfgang; Jankuhn, Herbert (1966), Die Runeninschriften im älteren Futhark, Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, 3. Folge 65, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. Tjurkö I
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wirza
16. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 580
17. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wyrcan
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurhtaz
19. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wurxtaz
20. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wurxtiz
21. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wurxstwan
22. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wurkjan
23. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frawurkijaną
24. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *uzwurkijaną
25. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *handuwurhtaz
26. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. waurkjan
27. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. waurkjan
28. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. yrkja
29. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. werka
30. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. workian
31. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurken