< Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic

Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bōks

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

Etymology

Uncertain. Often linked to *bōkō (“beech”),[1] though beechbark-writing, unlike birchbark-writing, is not known, nor is it well imaginable that it was the time for bookfells made from beeches already. 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; in older times, letters would have served as (allotted) ownership symbols, which would then have been generalized to any work with writing upon it.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /bɔːks/

Noun

*bōks f

  1. letter, written message, inscriptions carved into a flat object pressed together, “book”

Inflection
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

Descendants

References
  1. Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 71
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