Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
to mean 'lined with yew trees'. Conversely, however, lots of rivers have names that simply
mean 'river'. The Avon in the west of England gets its name from a Celtic word mean-
ing river, so that River Avon literally means 'River River'. Similarly, the River Ganges in
South Asia takes its name from the Sanskrit word
ganga
, meaning current or river.
Rivers have also had their names appropriated for use as place names. Cities named after
their rivers include the capitals of Russia (Moscow: Moskva River), Lithuania (Vilnius:
Vilnia River), Central African Republic (Bangui: Ubangi River), and Malawi (Lilongwe:
Lilongwe River). Belmopan, the capital city of Belize, was named after two rivers: the
country's longest, the Belize River, and one of its tributaries, the Mopan. On a still larger
scale, a number of countries are named after their major rivers. They include Paraguay in
South America, Jordan in the Middle East, Gambia and Senegal in West Africa. Further
east in West Africa, the Niger River flows through both Niger and Nigeria, and Central
Africa's Congo has given rise to both the Congo Republic and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. India is named after the Indus River, although it no longer flows through India.
A country of sorts was created in northern Europe in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte when he
established the Confederation of the Rhine, but it disintegrated after Napoleon's abdication
in 1814.
Equally, numerous place names are linked to rivers in less direct ways. Oxford means a
crossing place, or ford, used by oxen. Cambridge is traced back to 'Bridge on the River
Granta' with the change from Grant-, a Celtic river name, to Cam- thought to be due to
a Norman influence. Many names of settlements located at the mouth of a river have an
equally simple etymology: Yarmouth and Falmouth lie at the mouths of the Rivers Yar and
Fal. Of course, the same principle also applies in many other languages. Aberdeen, the port
in northeast Scotland, has a name of Celtic origin ('
aber
', or mouth, of the River Don,
now Deen). Similarly, Aarhus, the port in eastern Denmark, simply means 'river mouth' in
Old Danish (
aa
, river, and
os
, mouth). In the USA, a number of states have names derived
from Native American words associated with rivers. Connecticut comes from a Mohican
word meaning 'long river place'; Mississippi is thought to mean 'great river' in Chippewa;
Missouri is an Algonquin term meaning 'river of the big canoes'; and Nebraska is from
an Omaha or Otos Indian word meaning 'broad water' or 'flat river'. Not all place name
links to rivers are reliable, however. A good example is the Brazilian coastal city of Rio
de Janeiro, named by Portuguese sailors who first discovered the spot on New Year's Day
1502. They called it 'January River', thinking - wrongly - that the large bay on which Rio
now stands was the mouth of a great river.
Some terms derived from rivers have been adopted for more general use in the English
language. Meander is a good example; as both verb and adjective, it has entered the ver-
