Ferkel.

From Middle High German verkelen, byform of verhelīn, from Old High German farhilī, farhilīn, diminutive of farah (“pig”), from Proto-West Germanic *farh, from Proto-Germanic *farhaz (whence English farrow), from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos. 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 /rx/ and /rk/. However, verkelen is first found in West Central German along the Rhine, where stem-internal -h- had been lost early on (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.