𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰

Forms

𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰 (bōka), a feminine ō-stem noun.^[1][2] The Wulfila project records 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐍉𐍃 (bōkōs, 23 times), the dative plural 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐍉𐌼 (bōkōm, 11), 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐍉 (bōkō, 6) and the nominative singular 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰 (bōka, 2).^[3] In the singular it means "letter of the alphabet"; the plural 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐍉𐍃 (bōkōs) means a piece of writing, a letter or a book.^[1][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bōkō,^[5] a feminine ō-stem in Fick, Falk and Torp's reconstruction, while Kluge and Bammesberger set up a root noun *bōk-, Kroonen's form as well.^[6][7] The cognates are Old Norse bók, Old English bōc, Old Frisian bōk, Old Saxon bōk and Old High German buoh.^[7][8][9] The split between a singular "letter" and a plural "book, document" is the same as in Greek γράμμα (grámma) and Latin littera, and recurs in Old High German.^[6] The word is usually tied to the name of the beech, Old High German buohha and bōc, on the view that the first writing was cut on beechwood tablets or staves.^[7][8][9] The tree name belongs with Latin fāgus (“beech”) and Ancient Greek φηγός (phēgós, “oak”),^[9][10] and Wiktionary traces the Germanic word to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵos.^[5] Lehmann reports that Ebbinghaus rejected the connection with the beech, supported by Peeters.^[11]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 42 tokens, in Matthew, John, Luke and Mark, in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy.^[3] Köbler counts 34.^[2] The records are in the manuscripts CA (13), A (14), B (14) and Car (1).^[3] In canonical order the first is Matthew 5:31, afstassais bokos, "a bill of divorce".^[3][12] The singular "letter" is recorded at Romans 7:6 and 2 Corinthians 3:6.^[12][13] In the 32 tokens PROIEL aligns it renders Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma) (8 times), ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ) (7), βιβλίον (biblíon) (5), γραφή (graphḗ) (5), βίβλος (bíblos) (4) and ἀποστάσιον (apostásion) (1).^[14] The compound 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰 (frabauhtabōka, “deed of sale”) occurs in the deed of Arezzo.^[8] John 7:15 reads ƕaiwa sa bokos kann unuslaisiþs, "how does this man know letters, never having been taught?".^[15]

Meanings

1. In the singular, a letter of the alphabet; for Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma).^[1][13]
2. In the plural, a piece of writing, a document or deed.^[1][2]
3. In the plural, a letter, an epistle; for ἐπιστολή (epistolḗ).^[12][2]
4. In the plural, a book; for βίβλος (bíblos) and βιβλίον (biblíon).^[12][13]
5. In the plural, the Scriptures; for γραφή (graphḗ).^[12][2]

The phrases siggwan bōkōs "to read" and saggws bōkō "a reading" occur.^[1] afstassais bōkōs (Matthew 5:31) and bōkōs afsateinais (Mark 10:4) "a bill of divorce".^[1][12]

Word family

• 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (bōkāreis, “scribe”)
• 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌱𐍉𐌺𐍉𐍃 (wadjabōkōs, “written pledge, bond”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰 (frabauhtabōka, “deed of sale”)

Borrowings into other languages

• Proto-Slavic: *buky (“letter; book”), perhaps from the Gothic plural or a calque on it.^[5] Wiktionary marks the loan uncertain.^[5] Kiparsky reports Šafařík and Braun deriving it from Gothic, Berneker from a pre-Gothic Germanic form.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. boka
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bōka
3. ^ a b c d De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
4. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 272
5. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰
6. ^ a b Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 71
8. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. boka
9. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 30
10. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 16
11. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. boka
12. ^ a b c d e f Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 58
13. ^ a b c Schulze, Ernst (1848), Gothisches Glossar, mit einer Vorrede von Jacob Grimm, Magdeburg: Heinrichshofen, p. s.v. boka
14. ^ Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
15. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Jn 7:15
16. ^ Kiparsky, Valentin (1934), Die gemeinslavischen Lehnwörter aus dem Germanischen, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B XXXII,2, Helsinki