The WARN(AU). Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
_Naples._ VARANO,[28] a lagoon on the Adriatic sh.o.r.e.
_The form vars._
1. _England._ The WORSE. Shropshire.
_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 relationship 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. Leicestershire.
_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 Lanarkshire.
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. Cheshire.