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Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bōks

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
 This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

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Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵosder.?
    Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g-der.?
    Proto-Germanic *bōks

    Uncertain. Often linked to *bōkō (“beech”),[1] though beechbark-writing, unlike birchbark-writing, is not known, nor is it likely that bookfells were made from beeches at the time. Connected by some to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to allot”), ascribing to the word the meaning of “letter”, in the sense of merely one or few symbols; (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) in older times, letters would have served as (allotted) ownership symbols, which would then have been generalized to any work with writing upon it. In case “letter” was indeed the original sense, compare also the semantics of Latvian burts (“letter, mark”), Lithuanian bùrtis (“sign”) and bùrtas (“lot”) with Proto-Slavic *bъrtь (“carving in a tree”); thus beech trunks could have been the wood carved in, rather than the bark. According to Kroonen, “it is generally assumed that the first scriptures consisted of wooden tablets.”

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    *bōks f

    1. letter, written message, inscriptions carved into a flat object pressed together, “book”
    2. ? (originally and in North Germanic) beech

    Inflection

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    consonant stemDeclension of *bōks (consonant stem)
    singular plural
    nominative *bōks *bōkiz
    vocative *bōk *bōkiz
    accusative *bōkų *bōkunz
    genitive *bōkiz *bōkǫ̂
    dative *bōki *bōkumaz
    instrumental *bōkē *bōkumiz

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    References

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    1. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*bōk-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 71
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