APPELLATIVES.

The great river of India, which has given its name to that country, is derived from Sansc. sindu, Persian hindu, water or sea. It was known to the ancients under its present name 500 years B.C. Another river of Hindostan, the Sinde, shews more exactly the Sansc. form, as the Indus does the Persian. It will be seen that there are some other instances of this word in the ancient or modern river-names of Europe.

1.India.The Indus and the Sinde.
Asia Minor.Indus ant., now the Tavas.
France.Indis ant., now the Dain.
Germany.Inda, 9th cent. The Inde near Aix-la-Chapelle.
Norway.The Inda.
2.With the ending er.
France.The Indre. Joins the Loire.

The most widely spread root is the Sansc. ap, Goth. ahva, Old High Germ. aha, Old Norse â, Ang.-Sax. ea, Lat. aqua, &c. With the form ahva Fürst connects Ahava as the name of a river in the district of Babylon, mentioned in Ezra, chap. 8, v. 21—"Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava." But from the 15th verse it would rather seem that Ahava was a place and not a river—"and I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava." The place might certainly, as in many other cases, take its name from the river on which it stood, but this is one step further into the dark. From the root ab or ap is formed Latin amnis, a river, corresponding, as Diefenbach suggests, with a Sansc. abnas. Also the Celt. auwon, avon, abhain, or amhain, of the same meaning, from the simple form found in Obs. Gael. abh, water. The Old German aha, awa, ava, or afa, signifying water or river, is added to many names of that country which are themselves probably of Celtic or other origin; the form in Modern German is generally ach or au. The ending in a of some English rivers, as the Rotha, Bratha, &c., I have already suggested, chapter 3, may be from the same origin; this form corresponds most nearly with the Scandinavian. There are one or two, as the Caldew in Cumberland, which seem to show the Germ. form au or ow. The ending ick or ock in several Scotch rivers, as the Bannock and the Errick, may be from a word of similar meaning, most probably the obs. Gael. oich.

I divide the widely spread forms from this root for convenience into two groups, ap or av, and ach or ah. The relation between the consonants is shown in the Gr. ἵππος, Lat. equus, Ang.-Sax. eoh, horse, three words similarly formed from one root. The European names in the following group I take to be most probably from the Celtic—the Asiatic, if they come in, must be referred to the Sanscrit, or a kindred and coeval tongue.

1.England.The Ive. Cumberland.
Portugal.The Avia.
Germany.Ipfa, 8th cent., now the Ipf—here?
Asia Minor.Hypius ant.—here?
2.With the ending en = Celtic auwon, avon, abhain, amhain, Lat. amnis.
England.The Avon and Evan. Many rivers in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Scotland.The Amon, near Edinburgh, also, but less correctly, called the Almond.
France.The Aven. Dep. Finistère.
Germany.Amana, 8th cent., now the Ohm.
Hindostan.Hypanis ant., now the Sutledge—here?
Asia Minor.Evenus ant., now the Sandarli—here? Amnias ant., probably here.
Syria.Abana ant., now the Barrada—here?
3.With the ending er.
France.The Avre. Dep. Eure.
Germany.Ivarus, 2nd cent., now the Salzach. Epar(aha), 8th cent., now the Ebr(ach).
Spain.Iberus ant., now the Ebro.
Thrace.Hebrus ant., now the Maritza.
4.With the ending el.
England.The Ivel.[1] Somers.
Germany.Apula, 9th cent. The Appel(bach).
Hungary.The Ipoly or Eypel. Joins the Danube.
5.With the ending es.[2]
Germany.Ibisa, 8th cent. The Ips.
Portugal.The Aviz.
Sicily.Hypsas ant., now the Belici.
Illyria.Apsus ant., now the Beratinos.

A related form to No. 2 of the above group I take to be ain = Manx aon for avon.

England.The Aune, Devonshire. The Ehen, Cumberland. The Inney, Cornwall.
Germany.The Aenus of Tacitus, now the Inn. The Ihna, Prussia.
Greece.Oenus ant.—here?

And I place here also a form annas, which I take to be = Sansc. abnas, Latin amnis.

India.The Annas. Gwalior.
Germany.Anisa, 8th cent. The Ens in Austria.
Piedmont.The Anza. Joins the Tosa.