Etymology

From žemas (nether) + -aitis patronimical suffix similar to also descent by locality indicating suffix -ietis. Partly comes as a retreatment or dialectal type of German forms such as Samaythen (as seen in for example Jurbarkas - Georgenburg), Samogitian from *sam-g- + -ite. Compare also Semigalian. Cognate to Sami, Lithuanian žmogus ‎(“man”), Polish Żmudź ‎(“Samogitian”), Sambia (German Samland ‎(“Sambia”). For Lithuanian suffixes -aitis and -ietis, probably considerable is an alternation of /ai/ and /ie/ as in roots of Lithuanian kaimas (hamlet), Old Prussian kaims (hamlet) and Lithuanian kiemas (court, hamlet), Latvian ciems (hamlet). Alternatively or otherwise could be understood as a derivative of Samland and it's reconstructional form *Sam-au, what is suggested by a reference of the patronimical suffix -aitis to landname suffixes -ava, -uva or slavic family, gens or placename suffix -ov- and by corresponding areas of historical language spread. Also consider interlinguistic pairs pertaining to the region as in Litauen - Letland(ia), Nadrovia - "netherland", possibly Sambia (Samland) and Samland, possibly Karšuva (as in Karšuvos giria (Curonian woods)) and Curland (Curonia). A thus suggested reconstructional form *Sam-au would possibly be supported by Lithuanian and Latvian versus Old Prussian pair of a diphthong /au/ to /aa/ interlinguistic or/and interdialectal alternation (maybe only when under stress) as in saulė (sun) or saule and sale - Žemaitis versus *Samauith which in its turn could be supported by also pertaining to the part of country name Ziemowit or Semovit. For a suffix -it-, compare Moscowite, also for example Old Prussian Tilsit. More at Samogitian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʒʲɛˈmɐjtʲɪs]