žemaitis
Lithuanian
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]From žẽmas (“nether”) + -aĩtis, patronymical suffix similar to also descent by locality indicating suffix -iẽtis. 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 žmogùs (“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 káimas (“hamlet”), Old Prussian kaims (“hamlet”) and Lithuanian kiẽmas (“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 patronymical 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
[edit]Noun
[edit]žemaĩtis m (plural žemaĩčiai, feminine žemaitė) stress pattern 2
- Samogitian (person from Samogitia)
- Coordinate terms: aukštaĩtis, dzū̃kas, suvalkiẽtis, lietùvininkas
- Hypernym: lietùvis
Declension
[edit]| singular (vienaskaita) | plural (daugiskaita) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (vardininkas) | žemaĩtis | žemaĩčiai |
| genitive (kilmininkas) | žemaĩčio | žemaĩčių |
| dative (naudininkas) | žemaĩčiui | žemaĩčiams |
| accusative (galininkas) | žemaĩtį | žemaičiùs |
| instrumental (įnagininkas) | žemaičiù | žemaĩčiais |
| locative (vietininkas) | žemaĩtyje | žemaĩčiuose |
| vocative (šauksmininkas) | žemaĩti | žemaĩčiai |
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “žemaitis”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
- “žemaitis”, in Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of common Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, n.d.
- “žemaičiai”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024
- žemaičiai in Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia)
Samogitian
[edit]
Noun
[edit]žemaitis m (plural žemaitē)
- Samogitian (person from Samogitia)