v1.0
Published 01/10/24
forc f.
Armstrong (1825) gives masculine.
[fɔɾ̥k], gen. forca -[ə], fuirc [fuɾ̥ʲkʲ], also forca [ˈfɔɾ̥kə],
E.g. AFB˄; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄.
gen. idem, fuirce [ˈfuɾ̥ʲkʲə], in the sense ‘punting pole’ is derived by Stewart (2004, 410) from ON forkr m. ‘pole, stake’ (NO), ‘pole shod with iron to push off a boat’ (de Vries 1962). McDonald (2009, 354) considers the loan unlikely, while Craigie (1894, 157) suggests SG forc in the sense ‘pronged implement’ and Ir. forc ‘idem’ are from either ON forkr or OEng. forc. On the other hand, Meyer (1891, 465) and Pedersen (1913 I, 230) derive EG forc from Lat. furca ‘pronged implement’ (so also eDIL˄), as do MacBain (1911) and MacLennan (1925).
SG forc has the senses ‘fork (i.e. pronged implement)’ (MacDomhnuill 1741, 86; Shaw 1780; Mac Farlan 1795; HSS 1828; MacEachen 1842; MacBain 1911), ‘fork, prong’ (Armstrong 1825), ‘fork; (with the article) cramp’ (MacLeod and Dewar 1839; MacLennan 1925; AFB˄), ‘fork, prong; cramp’ (Dwelly 1911), ‘fork; cramp; (Skye) earmark’ (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄). In separate entries, AFB˄ lists forca f. ‘punting pole’ (cf. Stewart 2004, 410: forc ‘idem’), and MacLennan (1925) forc f. ‘pole, punting pole, oar or boat hook used in a boat to push the craft from or to the shore’; cf. the Scottish Gaelic verb forc (forcaich) ‘to push hard with hands or feet, as a person dragged against their will; get a purchase with hands or feet; pitch with a fork; press, crush; †teach, instruct’ and the verbal noun forcadh (Dwelly 1911).
Cf. the use of the verbal noun in [c]huir mi fhèin mo chasan am forcadh ‘I dug in my feet [i.e. braced myself]’ (Ó Maolalaigh 2007, 98–99 §4.3).
While SG forc in the sense ‘boat hook’ might just be from ON fork acc., it seems more likely to be an extension of SG forc in the sense ‘pronged implement’ and to derive, via EG forc, ultimately from Lat. furca – although no doubt reinforced by Scots and Eng. fork; similarly Ir. forc ‘pronged implement’. The sense ‘earmark’ is presumably an extension of SG forc in the sense ‘pronged implement’ also. Similarly, the senses ‘push against, press, crush, cramp’ may all ultimately go back to the same source, as the Early Gaelic adjective forc ‘firm, strong’ is considered probably to do (eDIL˄), although they may owe something to either EG forgaḃ ‘a blow or thrust, esp. a downward thrust from a spear or other pointed weapon’, verbal noun of for-gaiḃ ‘seizes forcibly; attacks (thrusts, pierces) with some pointed weapon’ (eDIL˄), and/or EG orca ‘the calf of the leg’.
For Scottish Gaelic, cf. MacDomhnuill 1741: an orca ‘the cramp’; Shaw 1780, Mac Farlan 1795, MacFarlane 1815: orc ‘the cramp’; Armstrong 1825: idem ‘cramp’; HSS 1828: forc ‘the cramp’, orc ‘idem’; Dwelly 1911: an fhorc ‘idem’; MacLennan 1925: forc ‘cramp’.
The senses ‘teach, instruct’, on the other hand, may well go back to EG forcetal ‘teaching, instructing, admonishing etc.’ (SG foirceadal, foircheadal), verbal noun of for-cain ‘teaches, instructs’ (eDIL˄).