verk

Forms

verk n (genitive verks, plural verk) (strong a-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *werką (“work”),^[1][2] a neuter noun beside the verb Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”).^[2] The cognates are Old English weorc, Old Frisian werk, Old Saxon werk and Old High German werc.^[2][3] It continues Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”), from the root *werǵ- (“to make, work”), which also gave Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”) and Avestan varəz- (“to work”).^[4][3][1]

Kroonen keeps apart a West Germanic noun of the same form meaning “rope, tow”, the source of German Werg (“tow”);^[2] de Vries notes that this sense is not found in Old Norse.^[5] He also reports Jost Trier's view that the root first meant plaiting the wattle walls of a house, and that “work” grew from that.^[5] Jóhannesson ties verkr (“pain”) to this noun, since weorc could also mean “pain”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

IcePaHC finds the noun first in the First Grammatical Treatise, which it dates to 1150,^[7] and Menota's earliest manuscript record is the dative plural verkum in a Norwegian fragment of 1150–1250.^[8] Larsson lists it first from the fragment he calls 237, among the oldest Icelandic manuscripts.^[9] A Viking Age runestone already has the compound níðingsverk: the killer gerði níðingsverk, sveik félaga sinn “did a villain's deed, betrayed his partner”.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Zoëga orders the senses as work or business, a piece of work, and a deed.^[12] The concrete sense “product of work” covers buildings and works of art.^[13] In Christian writing góð verk renders the “good works” of medieval belief.^[14] In the poetry verk are often deeds of war;^[15] God's works and miracles are verk, and a poem can call itself one.^[15] In the laws it is hired labour (kaupa verk at e-m).^[16][17]

It continues as Icelandic verk, Swedish verk and Danish værk.^[4][18] Icelandic verk “clockwork” and “skein” are probably later loans from Danish.^[4]

Timeline

• 1150 – verka in the First Grammatical Treatise, by IcePaHC's dating.^[7]
• 1150–1250 – verkum in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[8]
• 1200–1225 – verk, verkin and verkum in AM 677 4to, værc in AM 619 4to.^[19][20]
• 1225–1250 – værk in DG 8 II.^[21]

Meanings

Noun

1. work, labour, business;^[12][22] vera á verki to be at work.^[12][22]
2. a piece of work, a task; a finished work, such as a building.^[12][13]
3. a deed, act; in the plural, deeds.^[12][16]
4. (Christian) góð verk: good works.^[14][23]
5. (poetic) a feat of arms; a poem.^[15]

Word family

• verka
• verkfæri
• verkmaðr
• verkkaup
• níðingsverk

Descendants

• Icelandic verk^[1]
• Faroese verk^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk verk^[1]
• Swedish verk^[1]
• Danish værk^[1]

Related words

• virki
• yrkja
• orka
• verkr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 580
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 456
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. verk
5. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 656
6. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 156
7. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
9. ^ Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 352
10. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. U 954
11. ^ Peterson, Lena (2006), Svenskt runordsregister, 3rd rev. ed., Runrön 2, Uppsala: Institutionen för nordiska språk
12. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. verk
13. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 723
14. ^ a b Kahle, Bernhard (1890), Die altnordische Sprache im Dienste des Christentums I, Berlin, p. 420
15. ^ a b c Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 607
16. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. verk
17. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 705
18. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. verk, värk
19. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
20. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
21. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
22. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 697
23. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. verk