The River-Names of Europe - Robert Ferguson

1.	France.	The Nive. Joins the Adour.
	Germany.	Naba, 1st cent., now the Naab in Bavaria.
	Holland.	Naba or Nava, 1st cent., now the Nahe or Nave.
	Spain.	The Navia. Falls into the Bay of Biscay.
	Russia.	The Neva and the Neiva.
	Hindostan.	The Naaf. Falls into the Bay of Bengal.
2.	With the ending en.
	Persia.	The Nabon. Prov. Fars.
	Russ. Pol.	The Niemen.[19]
3.	With the ending er.
	Scotland.	The Naver. River and lake.
	Wales.	The Never. Merioneth.
	France.	Niveris ant., now the Nievre.
	Danub. Prov.	Naparis (Herodotus), supposed to be the Ardisch.
4.	With the ending el.
	France and Spain.	The Nivelle. Pyrenees.
	Holland.	Nabalis (Tacitus), by some thought to be the Yssel.
5.	With the ending es.
5.	Scotland.	The Nevis. Rises on Ben Nevis.

From the same root, nî, to move, and closely connected with the last group, I take to be Sansc. nis, to flow, to water. Zeuss (Die Deutschen) takes the word, as far as it relates to the rivers of Germany, to be of Slavonic origin. It appears to be the word found as the second part of some Slavonic river-names, as the Yalomnitza. But it is also both Celtic and Teutonic, for the Armorican has naoz, a brook, and the German has nasz, wet, nässen, to be wet.

1.	Scotland.	The Ness. River and lake.
	Germany.	Nisa, 11th cent. The Neisse, two rivers, both of which join the Oder.
	Servia.	The Niss(ava). Joins the Morava.
	Sicily.	The Nisi.
2.	With the ending st.[20]
	France.	The Neste. Hautes Pyrenees.
	Thrace.	Nestus ant.

From the Greek ναω, fluo, comes νᾶμα, a stream, ναματιᾶιον ὕδωρ, running water. Hence seems to be Namadus, the name given by the Greek geographers to the Nerbudda of India.

Another form which I take to be derived from the above Sanscrit root nî, by the prefix s, is Sansc. snu, fluere, stillare, (whence Germ. schnee, Eng. snow, &c.)

Germany.	Znuuia, 11th cent., now the Schnei.
Russia.	The Zna or Tzna.

A derivative form is the Gael. and Ir. snidh or snith, to ooze through, distil, Obs. Gael. and Ir. snuadh, to flow, and snuadh, a river, whence I take the following. Förstemann refers to Old High German snidan, Modern German schneiden, to divide, in the sense of a boundary, which is a root suitable enough in itself, though I think it ought to yield the preference to the direct sense of water.

England.	The Snyte. Leicestershire.
Germany.	Sneid(bach), 8th cent., seems to be now called the Aue.
Germany.	Smid(aha), 9th cent., now the Schmida, which joins the Danube. For Snidaha?

The form snid or snith introduces the form nid or nith, and suggests the enquiry whether that may not also be a word signifying water. Donaldson, (Varronianus), referring to a word Nethuns, "found on a Tuscan mirror over a figure manifestly intended for Neptune," observes that "there can be little doubt that nethu means water in the Tuscan language." Assuming the correctness of the premises, I think that this must be the case; and that as the Naiades (water-nymphs), contain the Greek ναω; as Nereus (a water-god), contains the word ner before referred to; as Neptune contains the Greek νίπτω, in each case involving the signification of water, so Nethuns (=Neptunus) must contain a related word neth or nethun of the same meaning. Also that this word comes in its place here, as a derivative of the root nî, and as a corresponding form to the Celtic snidh or snith.

There are, however, two other meanings which might intermix in the following names; the one is that suggested by Baxter, viz., Welsh nyddu, to turn or twist, in the sense of tortuousness; and the other is Old Norse nidr, fremor, strepitus.