stæf

Forms

stæf m (nominative plural stafas) (strong a-stem)^[1]

• Early spelling staeb in the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz (“staff, letter”).^[1][4] The Proto-Germanic noun is continued in Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍆𐍃 (stafs, “element”), Old Norse stafr, Old Frisian stef, Old Saxon staf and Old High German stab.^[5][6][4] Kroonen reconstructs a pre-form Proto-Indo-European *stabʰ-o- and finds a possible match in Old Irish sab (“shaft, pole”) and Lithuanian stãbas (“post”);^[5][6] Orel adds Sanskrit स्तभ्नाति (stabhnā́ti, “to fix, support”).^[5][6] Köbler refers it to the root Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“to support”).^[7]

Proto-West Germanic /a/ was fronted to ⟨æ⟩ in the singular, but restored to ⟨a⟩ before the back vowel of the plural, which gives the alternation of ⟨stæf⟩ with ⟨stafas⟩.^[4][8][9] Hogg cites the pair as an example of the voicing of fricatives between voiced sounds, a voiceless /f/ in the uninflected form beside a voiced one in ⟨stafas⟩.^[10] Etymonline takes the word to have been originally ⟨stæb⟩.^[11] The Corpus Glossary spells it ⟨staeb⟩.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in the Corpus Glossary, written in the first half of the ninth century: Olastrum staeb, where it renders a Latin lemma olastrum.^[2][3][12] The Pastoral Care (890×897) quotes the psalm ðin gierd & ðin stæf me afrefredon “thy rod and thy staff comforted me” and goes on mid stæfe he bið awreðed “with a staff he is supported”.^[13][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a staff or stick, for walking, for beating or as a support; it is also a bishop's staff of office, which could be broken or taken away from him in the Chronicle.^[12][14] Bosworth and Toller explain the sense “letter, written character” from letters carved on staves, and Ælfric's Grammar renders Latin littera with it.^[12] In the plural the word means a written letter, as in the Parker Chronicle's Lucius Bretene kyning sende stafas “Lucius, king of Britain, sent a letter”, and writing or learning in general.^[14][3][7] Compounds such as bōcstæf and rūnstæf keep the sense “letter”.^[1]

The word lived on as Middle English staf, now English staff; stave is a back-formation from its old plural staves.^[15][11]

Timeline

• s. ix¹ – staeb for Latin olastrum in the Corpus Glossary.^[2][3]
• 890×897 – ðin gierd & ðin stæf “thy rod and thy staff” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[13][3]
• s. ix/x – sende stafas “sent a letter” in the Parker Chronicle.^[16][3]
• s. x² – siex stafas “six letters” in Riddle 24 of the Exeter Book.^[17][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. a staff, stick.^[12][7]
2. a staff of office, a bishop's staff.^[14]
3. a letter, a written character.^[12][7]
4. (plural) a letter, epistle.^[14]
5. (plural) writing, literature, learning.^[7]

Word family

• bōcstæf
• rūnstæf
• candelstæf
• āþstæf
• edwītstæf
• stæfcræft
• stæflīċ
• stæfwīs
• wyrdstæf

Descendants

• Middle English staf (→ English staff; English stave; Scots staff; Scots staif)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
4. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 147
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 471
6. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 368
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stæf
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 193
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 3.14
10. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 7.57
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 907
13. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
14. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 709
15. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 83
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 223