Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/stab

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *stabaz.

Noun

*stab m^[1]

staff
letter

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*stab
Genitive	*stabas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*stab	stabō, stabōs
Accusative	*stab	*stabā
Genitive	*stabas	*stabō
Dative	*stabē	*stabum
Instrumental	*stabu	*stabum

Descendants

Old English: stæf
- Middle English: staf
  - Scots: staf, staff
  - English: staff, stave (from the inflected forms)
Old Frisian: staf, stef
- Saterland Frisian: Stäf
- West Frisian: stêf
Old Saxon: staf
- Middle Low German: staf
  - German Low German: Staff, Staav (from the inflected forms)
Old Dutch: *staf
- Middle Dutch: staf
  - Dutch: staf, staaf (from the inflected forms)
Old High German: stab, stap
- Middle High German: stab, stap
  - German: Stab
    - → Czech: štáb
    - → Danish: stab
    - → Esperanto: stabo
    - → Hungarian: stáb
    - → Macedonian: штаб (štab)
    - → Polish: sztab
    - → Russian: штаб (štab)
    - → Serbo-Croatian: štab (“headquarters”)
    - → Swedish: stab
  - Luxembourgish: Staf

References

^ Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 147: “PWGmc *stab”

[1] Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 147: “PWGmc *stab”

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