Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/gatati

This Proto-Slavic 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-Slavic

Etymology

Traditionally linked to Proto-Indo-Iranian *gaHtʰás (“hymn”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *g⁽ʷ⁾eh₃- (“to call, to sing”) +‎ *-th₂ós, verbalized with native *-ati. Alternative interpretations suggest descent from *gʷet- (“to talk”) (whence Proto-Germanic *kweþaną (“to say”)).

Verb

*gatàti impf

1. to tell, to recite, to narrate (Northern Slavic)
2. to guess, to conjecture (South Slavic)

   Synonym: *gadati

3. (by extension) to tell fortunes (South Slavic)

   Synonyms: *perdъsъkazati, *vьračiti

Inflection

Derived terms

• *gatanьje (“foretelling”), *gatanъka (“conundrum, riddle”)
• *gatъka (“riddle”)
  • *gatъkati (“to speak crypticly”)
• *gatva (“proverb, adage”)
• *gatačь, *gatalьcь (“guesser”)
• *gatьcь m, *gatьčьka f (“gossip (person)”)

Related terms

• *ganati (“to utter, to talk”)
• *gadati (“to guess”)
• *gavъ (“caw, bark”), *gajь (“squeak”), *gakъ (“croak”) (onomatopoeiae from the same root)

Descendants

• East Slavic:
  • ⇒ Middle Russian: гатити (gatiti, “to invigorate, to speak excitedly”) (causative)
  • Russian: гатать (gatatʹ, “to speak crypticly”) (dialectal)
• South Slavic:
  • Old Church Slavonic: гатати (gatati)
    • → Old East Slavic: гатати (gatati, “to predict”)
  • Bulgarian: га́там (gátam, “to foretell”) (dialectal)
  • Macedonian: гата (gata)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: га́тати

    Latin script: gátati

  • Slovene: gátati (tonal orthography) (rare)
• West Slavic:
  • Old Polish: gatać

Further reading

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “гатать”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1979), “*gatati”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 6 (*e – *golva), Moscow: Nauka, page 105
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “гатам”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 232
• В. В. Мартынов (1981) “Балто-славяно-иранские языковые отношения и глоттогенез славян: bъrtviti – gatati 'неясно говорить, ворожить'.”, in Балто-славянские исследования. 1980., Moscow: Nauka, page 20

References