Buchstabe

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German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German buochstabe, from Old High German *buohstabo (letter, writing) (attested only as Old High German buohstab; > German Buchstab), from Proto-West Germanic *bōkstabō, from Proto-Germanic *bōkstabô, a variant of *bōkstabaz.[1] Compare English bookstaff, bookstave.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbuːxʃtaːbə/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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Buchstabe m (weak, genitive Buchstabens or (less common) Buchstaben, plural Buchstaben)

  1. letter (of the alphabet)
    • 1931, Gebhard Mehring, Schrift und Schrifttum, Silberburg-Verlag, page 21:
      Das römische Zahlensystem […] besteht aus 7 Buchstaben, die zur Bezeichnung von Zahlenwerten verwendet werden: M D C L X V I
      The Roman numeral system […] consists of 7 letters, which are used for the representation of numerical values: M D C L X V I
    • 1795, Wilhelm Friedrich Hezel, Ausführliche Griechische Sprachlehre nebst Paradigmen der Griechischen Deklinationen und Konjugationen in 35 Tabellen, Weißenfels & Leipzig, p.14
      II. Konsonanten — sind die übrigen siebenzehn Buchstaben des Alphabets. Man theilt sie
      A. in Ansehung der Sprachorganen, die an ihrer Bildung den meisten Antheil haben, in
      1) Lippenbuchstaben (labiales): [...]
      2) Gaumenbuchstaben (palatinas): [...]
      3) Zungenbuchstaben (linguales): [...]
      4) Zahnbuchstaben (dentales): [...]
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (law) letter (a division unit of a piece of law marked by letters)

Usage notes

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Buchstabe usually has the genitive singular (des) Buchstabens (cf. Name). The weak form (des) Buchstaben also exists.

Declension

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Derived terms

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Buchstabe”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Further reading

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