The River-Names of Europe

by Robert Ferguson

In the other form ah, ach, there may be more admixture of the German element. But the English names, I take it, are all Celtic. The form ock comes nearest to the obs. Gael. oich.

1.	England.	The Ock, Berks. The Oke, Devon.
	Scotland.	The Oich, river and lake. The Awe, Argyle. The Eye, Berwicks.
	France.	The Aa. Dep. Nord.
	Germany.	The Aach and the Au.
	Holland.	The Aa in Brabant.
	Russia.	The Oka and the Aa.
2.	With the ending el.
	Scotland.	The Oikell. Sutherland.
	Germany.	Aquila, 8th cent., now the Eichel.

With the Sanscrit root ab or ap is to be connected Sanscrit ambu, ambhas, water, whence Latin imber and Gr. ὄμβρος. If the Abus of Ptolemy was the name of the river Humber, it contains the oldest and simplest form of the root. But the river is called the Humbre in the earliest Ang.-Sax. records. I class in this group also the forms in am and em.

1.	England.	The Emme. Berkshire.
	Switzerland.	The Emme.
	Holland.	Ema, 10th ct., now the Eem—here?
	Sweden.	The Umea.
	Asia.	The Emba, also called the Djem.
2.	With the ending en.
	Switzerland.	The Emmen. Two rivers.
3.	With the ending er.
	England.	The Humber. Humbre, Cod. Dip.
		The Amber. Derbyshire.
	Germany.	Ambra, 8th cent., now the Ammer, and the Emmer.
	Italy.	Umbro ant., now the Ombrone.
4.	With the ending el.
	England.	The Amble or Hamble. Hants.
		The Amele or Emele, now the Mole, in Surrey.
	Germany.	The Hamel. Hanover.
	Belgium.	Ambl(ava), 9th cent., now the Ambl(ève).
5.	With the ending es, perhaps = Sansc. ambhas, water.
	England.	The Hamps. Stafford.
	France.	The Amasse. Joins the Loire.
	Germany.	Amisia, 1st cent. The Ems in Westphalia.
		Emisa, 8th cent. The Ems in Nassau.
6.	With the ending st.[3]
	Asia.	Ambastus ant. Now the Camboja.

The whole of the above forms are to be traced back to the Sanscrit verb ab or amb, signifying to move; and that probably to a more simple verb â. The Old Norse â, Ang.-Sax. eâ, water or river, contain then a root as primitive as language can show. We can resolve it into nothing simpler—we can trace it back to nothing older. And it is curious to note how the Latin aqua has, in the present French word eau, come round again once more to its primitive simplicity. Curious also to note to what phonetic proportions many of the words, as the Avon, the Humber, &c., have grown, and yet without adding one particle of meaning, as I hold, to the primeval â.

The root of the following group seems to be Sansc. ux or uks, to water, whence Welsh wysg, Irish uisg, Old Belg. achaz, water or river. Hence also Eng. ooze, and according to Eichoff (Parrallele des langues), also wash.

1.	England.	The Axe, Devon. The Axe, Somers.
		The Ash, Wilts. Cod. Dip. Asce.
		The Isaca, or Isca (Ptolemy). The Exe.
		The Esk, Cumb. Eske, Yorks.
		The Esk, in Scotland, five rivers.
		The Usk, in Monmouthshire.
	France.	The Isac. Dep. Mayenne.
		The Esque. Normandy.
		The Achase. Dauphiné.
	Germany.	Achaza, 10th cent., now the Eschaz.
		Acarse,[4] 11th cent., now the Axe.
		The Ahse. Prussia.
	Mœsia.	Œscus ant.
	Asia.	Aces ant. (Herodotus), now the Oxus or Amou.
	Greece.	Axius ant., now the Vardar in Macedon.[5] Axus or Oaxes in Crete, still retains its name.
2.	With the ending en.
	France.	Axona ant. (Cæsar.) Now the Aisne.
	Asia.	Ascania ant. Two lakes, one in Phrygia, and the other in Bithynia.
3.	With the ending el.
	England.	Uxella ant., (Richard of Cirencester), supposed to be the Parret.
		The Eskle, Hereford.
	Germany.	Iscala, 8th cent. The Ischl.
	Russia.	The Oskol. Joins the Donetz.
4.	With the ending er.
	France.	Oscara ant., now the Ousche.
	Belgium.	Hisscar, 9th cent., seems not to be identified.

I am inclined to bring in here the root is, respecting which Förstemann observes that it is "a word found in river-names over a great part of Europe, but the etymology of which is as yet entirely unknown." I connect it with the above group, referring also to the Old Norse is motus, isia, proruere, as perhaps allied. I feel an uncertainty about bringing the name Ouse either in this group or the last, for two at least of the rivers so called are so very tortuous in their course as to make us think of the Welsh osgo, obliquity.

1.	Germany.	The Ise and the Eis(ach).
	Syria.	Issus ant., now the Baias—here?
2.	With the ending en.
	Germany.	Isana, 8th cent. The Isen.
3.	With the ending er.
	France.	Isara, 1st cent. B.C. The Isère and the Oise.[6]
	Germany.	Isara ant. The Isar.
4.	With the ending el.
	Scotland.	The Isla. Two rivers.
	France.	The Isolé.
	Holland.	Isela, 8th cent., now the Yssel.
	Spain.	The Esla.
5.	With the ending es.
	England.	The Isis, vulg. Ouse.
6.	With the ending et.
	Siberia.	The Isset. Joins the Tobol.
7.	In a compound form.
	The Ister, or Danube, perhaps = Is-ster, from a word ster, a river, hereafter noticed.
	Ismenus ant., in Bœotia. The ending seems to be from a Celt. word man or mon, probably signifying water or river, and found in several other names, as the Idumania of Ptolemy, now the Blackwater, the Alcmona of Germany, now the Altmühl, the Haliacmon of Macedonia, now the Vistritza, &c.
	Hesudros, the ancient name of the Sutledge (Sansc. udra, water), may also come in.

From the Sansc. ud, water—in comp. udra, as in samudra, the sea, i.e., collection of waters, (see also Hesudros above)—come Sansc. udon, Gr. ὕδωρ, Slav. woda, Goth. wato, Germ. wasser, Eng. water, Lith. audra, fluctus, &c.