bookstaffn.

Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Dutch buokstaf letter of the alphabet, alphabet (Middle Dutch boecstaef , boecstave letter of the alphabet, (in plural) writing, literature, literacy, Dutch boekstaaf ), Old Saxon bōkstaf letter of the alphabet (Middle Low German bōkstaf ), Old High German buohstab letter of the alphabet, alphabet (Middle High German buochstap , buochstabe , German Buchstabe ), Old Icelandic (in late sources) bókstafr letter of the alphabet (see note), Old Swedish bokstaver (Swedish bokstaf ), Old Danish bogstav (Danish bogstav ) < the Germanic base of book n. + the Germanic base of staff n.¹, probably originally with reference to letters of the alphabet (compare staff n.¹ II.) as used in books (i.e. the Roman alphabet as opposed to runic script), although see below for various alternative explanations for the semantic motivation. Compare roun-staff n. at roun n. Compounds.Although the morphological composition of this word is not in dispute, the relevant senses of the elements concerned and the motivation for their combination have been much discussed. It has been argued that in Germanic this compound denoted a beech stave (compare staff n.¹ I.) used for the inscription of runes, reflecting the theory that book n. ultimately derives from the same base as beech n. However, this argument assumes semantic developments for which evidence is lacking, and is difficult to reconcile with the fact that, in early stages of the Germanic languages, bookstaff n. and its cognates are used almost exclusively for the letters of the Roman alphabet used for writing in Latin on parchment or writing tablets (compare discussion at book n.), as opposed to the runic characters originally used in vernacular epigraphy, which are distinguished by a different word in several of these languages (compare Old English rūnstæf , Old High German rūnstab , Old Icelandic rúnastafr (see roun-staff n. at roun n. Compounds), and also Old Icelandic stafr , Old Saxon staf : see staff n.¹ II.). An older suggestion that staff n.¹ in this compound is a reference to the vertical stroke that forms the basis of most runic characters also appears unlikely in view of the latter objection. Alternatively, it has been argued by those who posit an original sense ‘letter, (written) character, rune’ for the Germanic base of book n. that the present word reflects a Germanic explanatory compound, the second element showing the synonymous base of staff n.¹ (compare staff n.¹ II., and see further e.g. F. Kluge Etymologisches Wörterbuch (ed. 24, 2002) at Buchstabe). However, this explanation has not been widely accepted, partly because evidence for the relevant sense of the base of book n. in West Germanic is uncertain and disputed. See further discussion at book n. The context and late attestation of Old Icelandic bókstafr suggest that it was probably formed on the model of the Old English word (compare in the same sense Old Icelandic latínustafr); given the role of Anglo-Saxon missionaries in disseminating manuscript culture in other parts of the Germanic world, it has been argued that other parallels listed here are similarly formed after or borrowed from English, although conclusive evidence for this is lacking. See further D. H. Green Lang. & Hist. Early Germanic World (1998) 255–6.