Ferkel

German

Etymology

From Middle High German verhelīn, from Old High German farhilī, farhilīn, diminutive of farah (“pig”), from Proto-Germanic *farhaz, whence English farrow.

The -k- has been explained as an irregular fortition of -h-, which would be plausible if the form were of Upper German origin, where -h- was strong and where there was dialectal variation between -rch- and -rk-. However, Middle High German verkelen is first found in West Central German along the Rhine, where stem-internal -h- had been lost early on (compare accordingly Middle High German verlīn). It therefore seems at least equally probable that the -k- is due to influence by a related Rhenish word for “pig, piglet”, still found today in Ripuarian Ferke, which goes back to a Frankish *far(i)kīn (compare Old Dutch farkīn, ferkīn, whence modern Dutch varken), from Proto-Germanic *farhikīną, another diminutive of *farhaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛrkəl/, [ˈfɛʁ.kl̩], [ˈfɛɐ̯-], [-kəl]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Ferkel n (strong, genitive Ferkels, plural Ferkel, diminutive Ferkelchen n or Ferklein n)

1. piglet; a young/immature pig
2. (derogatory) A dirty or contemptible person

   Synonyms: Stinktier, Sau

Declension

Declension of Ferkel [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Ferkel	die	Ferkel
genitive	eines	des	Ferkels	der	Ferkel
dative	einem	dem	Ferkel	den	Ferkeln
accusative	ein	das	Ferkel	die	Ferkel

Derived terms

• Hirschferkel

Further reading

• “Ferkel” in Duden online
• “Ferkel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache