Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/kotiti

Of unknown origin. Similar in meaning to Lithuanian skàsti (“to jump, to move around”), Latvian skatīt (“to check, to look at”), and Latin scateō (“to gush, to spring”) which suggests an origin from a possible Proto-Indo-European *(s)ket- (“to spring, to leap”) (traditionally reconstructed as *skeHt-).^[1] Matasović relates it with Irish caith (“to throw”), Old Irish caithid (“to consume”) derived from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂t- (“to throw, turn in a circle”);^[2] this theory is supported by Snoj.^[3]

*kotìti impf (perfective *kaťati)^[3]

1. to tumble, to roll, to crumble
2. to leap, to climb

• East Slavic:
  • Belarusian: каціць (kacicʹ)
  • Russian: катить (katitʹ)
  • Ukrainian: коти́ти (kotýty)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: кътая (kǎtaja) (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Bulgarian: кате́ря (katérja)
  • Slovene: kotīti (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Czech: kotiti
    • Czech: kotit (dated)
  • Polish: kocić
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: kócić

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “котить”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1984), “*kotiti (sę) II”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 11 (*konьcь – *kotьna(ja)), Moscow: Nauka, page 205
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “кътая”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 234
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1979), “кате́ря се”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 2 (и – крепя̀), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 272

Of disputed origin:^[1]

• Folk etymology (acknowledged by Derksen) relates it to *kotъ (“cat”) +‎ *-iti (a wanderwort of non-native origin), formed in the same way as Proto-Slavic *teliti (“to beget a calf”) < Proto-Slavic *telę (“calf”). However, no particular relationship to begetting of kittens is attested in all languages;
• Vasmer, Trubačev presume generic sense of begetting and consider etymological kinship with Latin catulus (“puppy”). Possibly related to Etymology 1, originally implying “to toss, to throw” → “to spawn”.^[2][3]

*kotìti^[1][4]

1. (transitive) to brood
2. (reflexive) to have young, to bear an offspring (for animals)

• *kotidlo (“nest, brood”)

• East Slavic:
  • Russian: коти́ться (kotítʹsja)
  • Ukrainian: коти́тися (kotýtysja)
• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: ко́тя (kótja)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ко̀тити

    Latin script: kòtiti

  • Slovene: kotīti (tonal orthography)
• West Slavic:
  • Czech: kotit
  • Polish: kocić
  • Sorbian:
    • Upper Sorbian: kócić