The River-Names of Europe - Robert Ferguson

1.	Scotland.	The Tarth. Lanarkshire.
	Libya.	Darădus ant., now the Rio di Ouro.
	Armenia.	Daradax [46] ant. (Xenophon).
2.	With the ending er.
	France.	The Tardoire. Dep. Charente.
	Aust. Italy.	The Tartaro.
3.	With the ending es.
3.	Spain.	Tartessus ant., now the Guadalquiver.

With the Sansc. till, to move, to agitate, we may probably connect the Gael. dile and tuil, Welsh diluw, dylif, dylwch, a flood, deluge, as also Ang.-Sax. dilgian, German tilgen, to overthrow, destroy, &c. The Ang.-Sax. dêlan, Germ. thielen, to divide, in the sense of boundary, may however intermix in these names.

1.	England.	The Till. Northumberland.
	Ireland.	The Deel. Limerick.
	Germany.	The Dill. Nassau.
	Belgium.	Thilia, 9th cent., now the Dyle in Bravant.
	Switzerland.	The Thiele.
2.	With the ending en.
	Germany.	The Tollen. Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
3.	With the ending er.
	Scotland.	The Dillar burn. Lesmahagow.
4.	With the ending es.
	Germany.	The Tilse, by Tilsit.

With the two Welsh forms dylif and dylwch, deluge, we may perhaps connect the following, though for the former the Ang.-Sax. delfan, to dig, delf, a ditch, may also be suitable.

Germany.	Delv(unda), 9th century, now the Delven(au).
	Delchana, 11th century, now the Dalcke.

From the Gael. and Ir. taosg, to pour, tias, tide, flood, may be the following. Perhaps the special sense of cataract may come in, at least in some cases, as two of the under-noted rivers, the Tees and the Tosa, are noted for their falls.

1.	England.	The Tees. Durham.
	Switzerland.	The Töss. Cant. Zurich.
	Piedmont.	The Tosa.
	Russia.	The Tescha. Joins the Oka.
	Hungary.	Tysia ant., now the Theiss.
	Greece.	Tiasa ant. Laconia.
	India.	The Touse—here?
2.	With the ending en.
	Switzerland.	The Tessin or Ticino.
	Germany.	The Desna. Joins the Dnieper.
	France.	The Tacon. Dep. Jura.
3.	With the ending el.
3.	Germany.	Tussale (Genitive), 11th cent., now the Dussel by Düsseldorf.
4.	With the ending st.[47]
	England.	The Test. Hants.
	Germany.	The Dista. Prussia.
	India.	The Teesta—here?

From the Sansc. gad or gand, Ang.-Sax. geôtan, Suio-Goth. gjuta, Danish gyde, Old Norse giosa, Old High Ger. giezen, Obs. Gael. guis, all having the meaning of Eng. "gush," we get the following. The Gotha or Gœta of Sweden may probably derive its name from the well-known fall which it makes at Trolhætta. So also the Gaddada of Hindostan is noted for its falls; and the Giessbach is of European celebrity. But in some of the other names the sense may not extend beyond that of wandering, as we find it in Eng. gad, which I take to be also from this root. Or that of stream, as in Old High Germ. giozo, Gael. and Ir. gaisidh, rivulus.

1.	England.	The Gade. Herts.
	Scotland.	Gada ant.,[48] now the Jed by Jedburgh.
	Germany.	The Gose. Joins the Ocker.
		Geis(aha), 8th cent., now the Geisa.
		The Gande, Brunswick—here, or to can, cand, pure?
	Switzerland.	The Giess(bach). Lake of Brienz.
	Spain.	The Gata. Joins the Alagon.
	Sweden.	The Gotha or Gœta.
		The Gidea, enters the G. of Bothnia.
	Asia.	Gyndes (Herodotus), perhaps the Diala—here?
2.	With the ending en.
	Asia Minor.	Cydnus ant., now the Tersoos Chai.
3.	With the ending er.
	Persia.	The Gader.
	Sardinia.	Cædrius ant., now the Fiume dei Orosei.
4.	With the ending el.
	Germany.	Gisil(aha), 8th cent., now the Giesel—here?
5.	With the ending ed.
	India.	The Gaddada.
6.	Compounded with main, stream.
	Switzerland.	The Gadmen.

From the Sansc. arb or arv, to ravage or destroy, cognate with Lat. orbo, &c., may be the following. To the very marked characteristic of the Arve in Savoy I have referred at p. [6]. But there is a word of precisely opposite meaning, the Celt. arab, Welsh araf, gentle, which is very liable to intermix.