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hotīti

hoti

3rd sg. present indicative of bhavati; surface form hotīti shows sandhi contraction

1. is; becomes
2. exists (for)
3. stays; remains; continues to be; lit. is

Built from

• bhav — root · be, become
  Core verb of existence and change; from PIE *bʰewh₂-. Cognates with English be, Latin fīō, Greek phúō.
• a — ending · present tense marker
  Thematic vowel lengthened in 3rd sg.; marks ongoing present action.
• ti — ending · 3rd singular
  Personal ending marking 3rd person singular subject (he/she/it).
• iti — root · thus, quotation marker
  Particle freezing direct speech or thought; from PIE demonstrative *i-. Marks the boundary of a quoted phrase.

Analysis. hotīti = hoti (3rd sg. pres. of bhavati 'is/becomes') + iti (quotative particle 'thus, so'); the ī is sandhi fusion of final -i of hoti and initial i- of iti. Used to mark the end of a quoted clause: 'he said/thought: is it so?' or 'is (this thing) indeed so?'

Etymology. bhavati from PIE *bʰewh₂- 'to grow, become, be' (cognates: English be, Latin fīō 'become', Greek phúō 'grow'). The present stem bhav- carries the sense of becoming and continued existence. iti is an ancient pronominal particle meaning 'thus, in this way', from PIE *i- (demonstrative); cognates include Greek hī, Latin is.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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