The River-Names of Europe Part 10

The WARN(AU). Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

_Naples._ VARANO,[28] a lagoon on the Adriatic sh.o.r.e.

_The form vars._

1. _England._ The WORSE. Shrops.h.i.+re.

_France._ The OURCE. Joins the Seine.

_Germany._ The WERS. Joins the EMS.

_Italy._ ARSIA ant.--here?

VARESE. Lake in Lombardy.

_Persia._ AROSIS ant., now the Tab--here?

_Armenia._ ARAXES[29] ant., now the ARAS--here?

2. _With the ending en._ _Germany._ URSENA, 8th cent., now the OERTZE.

_Asia Minor._ ORSINUS ant., now the Hagisik--here?

3. _With the ending el._ _Germany._ URSELA, 8th cent. The URSEL.

HoRSEL. Joins the Werre.

In the above Sansc. _var_, to moisten, to water, is contained, as I take it, the root of the Finnic _wirta_, a river, the only appellative I can find for the following.

1. _Germany._ WERT(AHA), 10th cent., now the WERT(ACH).

_Poland._ The WARTA. Joins the Oder.

_Denmark._ The VARDE. Prov. Jutland.

_India._ The WURDAH. Joins the G.o.davery.

2. _With the ending en._ _France._ The VERDON. Dep. Var.

3. _With the ending er._ _Ireland._ The VARTREY. Wicklow.

_France._ The VARDRE.

_Europ. Turkey._ The VARDAR, ant. Axius.

The following names have been generally supposed to be derived from Welsh _cledd_ or _cleddeu_, sword, and to be applied metaphorically to a river. But I think it will be seen from the Sansc. _klid_, to water, whence _klaidan_, flux, Gr. ???d??, fluctus, unda, Ang.-Sax. _glade_, a river, brook, that the meaning of water lies at the very bottom of the word. Perhaps, however, as the senses of a running stream and of a sharp point often run parallel to each other, there may be in this case a relations.h.i.+p between them.

1. _Scotland._ The CLYDE. (CLOTA, Ptolemy.) _Wales._ The CLOYD, the CLWYD, and the CLEDDEU.

_Ireland._ The GLYDE.

_Greece._ CLADEUS ant.--here?

_Umbria._ c.l.i.t(UMNUS)[30] ant.--here?

2. _With the ending en._ _Germany._ The KLODN(ITZ). Pruss. Silesia.

3. _With the ending er._ _Greece._ The c.l.i.tORA in Arcadia, on which stood the ancient c.l.i.torium.

_Asia Min._ CLUDROS ant., in Caria.

There are two Sanscrit roots from which the word _ag_, _ang_, _ing_, in river-names might be deduced. One is the verb _ag_ or _aj_, to move, whence _anjas_, movement, (or the verb _ac_ or _anc_, to traverse), and the other is the verb _ag_ or _ang_, to contract, whence Latin _anguis_, snake, _anguilla_, eel, Eng. _angle_, &c. The sense then might be either the ordinary one of motion, the root-meaning of most river names, or it might be the special sense of tortuousness. But as the only appellative I can find is the word _anger_, a river, in the Tcheremissian dialect of the Finnic (Bonaparte polyglott), I think it safer to follow the most common sense, though the other may not improbably intermix. The derivation of Mone, from Welsh _eog_, salmon, I do not think of.

1. _With the ending en._ _Germany._ ANKIN(AHA), 8th cent., now the ECKN(ACH).

_France._ The INGON. Dep. Somme.

2. _With the ending er._ _England._ The ANKER. Leicesters.h.i.+re.

_Germany._ ACKARA, 10th cent. The AGGER.

AGARA, 8th cent. The EGER.

The ANGERAP (_ap_, water), Prussia.

_Siberia._ The ANGERA.

_Italy._ ACARIS ant. The AGRI.

_Servia?_ ANGRUS (Herodotus).

_India._ The AGHOR--here?

3. _With the ending el._ _Germany._ The ANGEL, three rivers (Baden, Westphalia, and Bohemia).

_Russia._ The INGUL. Joins the Bug.

4. _With the ending st._ _Germany._ AGASTA,[31] 8th cent., now the AISS.

From the Sansc. _pi_, to drink, also to give to drink, to water, Gr.

p??, p???, we may get a form _pin_ in river-names.

1. _Germany._ The PEEN in Prussia.

_Holstein._ The PINAU. Joins the Elbe.

_Hungary._ The PINA. Joins the Pripet.

The PINKA--here?[32]

_Russia._ The PIANA. Joins the Volga.

The PINE(GA). Joins the Dwina.

_India._ The BINOA. Joins the Beas.

_Greece._ PENEUS ant. Two rivers--here?

2. _With the ending en._ _Siberia._ The PENJINA.

3. _With the ending er._ _India._ The PENNAR. Madras.

4. _With the ending es._ _Russia._ The PENZA. Joins the Sura.

From the above Sansc. _pi_ we may also derive the form _pid_. The only appellative I find, (if it can be called one), is the Ang.-Sax.

_pidele_, a thin stream, given by Kemble in the glossary to the _Cod.

Dip._; and hence the name PIDDLE, of several small streams. The only name I find in the simple form, and that uncertain, is the PINDUS of Greece. Then there is a form _peder_, which seems to be from a definite word, and not from the simple suffix _er_.

1. _England._ The PEDDER. Somerset.

_Greece._ PYDARAS ant. Thrace.

_India._ The PINDAR--here?

2. _With the ending en._ _Scotland._ The PITREN(ICK), a small stream in Lanarks.h.i.+re.

3. _With the ending el._ _England._ The PETTERIL in c.u.mberland.

4. _With the ending et._ _England._ PeDREDE (_Cod. Dip._) Now the PARRET.

Also from the Sansc. root _pi_, to drink, to water, we get the form _bib_ or _pip_, as found in Lat. _bibo_, and in Sansc. _pipasas_, toper.

Here also in the simple form I only find one name--the BEUVE in France, Dep. Gironde. In the form _biber_ there are many names, particularly in Germany. Graff (_Sprachschatz_), seems to refer the word to _biber_, beaver, but Forstemann, with more reason, as I think, suggests a lost word for water or river.

1. _England._ The PEVER. Ches.h.i.+re.