Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/katerica

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

Dialectal synonym of *věverica (“squirrel”), likely introduced to distinguish it from the European ground squirrel (in Slavic *sъsьlъ / *sysьlъ / *sujakъ). Formed as *kateriti (“to climb, to mount”) +‎ *-ica, probably ultimately descending from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ket- (“to gush, to leap, to move around”), whence come Latin scatebra (“gush of water”) and Old Armenian շիթ (šitʻ, “jet, stream”).

Noun

*katerica f

1. tree squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), one that climbs

   Synonyms: *věverica, *bělъka

Declension

Declension of *katerica (soft a-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*katerica	*katerici	*katericę̇
genitive	*katericę̇	*katericu	*katericь
dative	*katerici	*katericama	*katericamъ
accusative	*katericǫ	*katerici	*katericę̇
instrumental	*katericejǫ, *katericǫ**	*katericama	*katericami
locative	*katerici	*katericu	*katericasъ, *katericaxъ*
vocative	*katerice	*katerici	*katericę̇

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Related terms

• *kotiti (“to trundle”)
• *katati (“to roll, to tumble”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: ка́терица (káterica)

Further reading

• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1979), “катерица”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 2 (и – крепя̀), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 271