Origins of European rivers' names

Hi Maciamo!
I believe basque must be linked with the Cro-Magnon language (Hg I), not with the Neolithic non-european population. I found some fossil words in romanian that are not linked with i-e or asian languages, but has connections with basque.
One very important word is the word for watter in Basque -URA that formed a lot of related word in basque: eURi - rain, elURRa - snow, itURRia-spring, lURRun-steam etc. Also in romanian we have a lot of words related with water that contain the stem UR. I personally believe that it was a word for water of onomatopoeic origin from very old Hg I population (pre-indo-european, pre-neolitic farmers). I also believe that the original form was something like "URR" and mimic the sound of the water flowing with great speed (maybe in a period when ice was melting). At some point the second R shifted into L. The same cognat has given in the german languages (v.sax) hurlen -throwing with force, (eng.) to hurl - throw with great force, to move with speed, (n.g.j) hurreln - to throw. In romanian language we have a lot of words related to water that are formed from original URR and from pregermanic URL. In the oficial romanian dictionary for most of them it is written "unknown origin" Ex: URLoi - pipe, tube; țurțur - icicle, for some of them, they try reconstructing possible latin words. Ex: lătURA - dirty water, food scraps soaked in water as food for pigs - from latin ''lavare'' and presumed *lavaturae, ciutURA - bucket for water from latin "situta"(hard to believe), for others they try explain by slavonic. Ex: izVOR - water spring. slavs seem to have taken the word from dacians. basqueITURRIA - romanian, vlach IZVOR T<D<Z (like dia-zi, deus-zeu ) u<uo<vo
There are a lot of names of rivers, lakes, waterfall and citys near water in Romania with those names: Urloi river in Urloii Valey near Urlati city, some lakes named URLoi, URLui; , CeptURA, Urlesti, URLatoarea waterfall (one of the most representativ for the romanian meaning)
I want to ask please:
1. Is this URR/URL root word related to water in other european languagers? Are there river, or places related to water with this root in the name?
2. How old can it be? is it pre-indo-european, pre neolitic farmers (as i think) or just a very early indo-european
3. Is there a link between mesopotamian UR , URuk, NippUR, assUR (places near water) or is just a coincidence?
 
Dr. Cyril Hroník is Slovakian scientist historian and linguistic expert with very rich and world academic career in his scientific work say, about ethymology of Slovak rivers and mountains. All of rivers and mountains in Slovakia have dravidian tamil language ethymology. Tamil is the oldest language of world and Slovakian/Slavic language has the most tamilic words. Tamilic words use other european languages too
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Dr. Cyril Hromník
 
Dravidians in Slovakia? Good luck with that one... :LOL:

Also the statement that "tamil is the oldest language in the world" is a very dubious one.

Sloven-Vened said:
Dr. Cyril Hroník is Slovakian scientist historian and linguistic expert with very rich and world academic career in his scientific work say, about ethymology of Slovak rivers and mountains. All of rivers and mountains in Slovakia have dravidian tamil language ethymology. Tamil is the oldest language of world and Slovakian/Slavic language has the most tamilic words. Tamilic words use other european languages too

Dr. Cyril Hromník
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Sloven-Vened said:
Dr. Cyril Hroník is Slovakian scientist historian and linguistic expert with very rich and world academic career in his scientific work say, about ethymology of Slovak words. O lot of words in Slovakia have dravidian tamil language ethymology. Tamil is the oldest language of world and Slovakian/Slavic launage has the most tamilic words. Tamilic words use other european languages too)


Dr. Cyril Hromník
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Sloven-Vened said:
Cyril Hroník is Slovakian historian and linguistic expert with very rich and world academic career is skeptical to "Celts" in middle Europa too: Ethymology of word "Celt" (or Gals or Gaels) is "outlaw / bandit, gangster"


Dr. Cyril Hromník
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What is it with this repetitive behaviour of making a similar post over and over, are you some kind of shill? As a moderator, I'm hereby issuing an informal warning for you to cease that.
 
Taranis tranquilize you please. You are full of emotions. Peace please. I am not perfect in English language
 
It it only approximately up 50 tamil words in Slovak language, it is not large number. Connection betwen Europa and India was via trade road, via traders. It is theory of scientist Cyril Hromník, it isnt infallible and unerring truth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language

In English wikipedia write, that in European languages is small number of tamilic (dravic) words too. It it not anything overblown.
And trading between Europa and India before Christ, is not anything overblown too.
 
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iann_allein said:
did you make an error ? From wiki: During the times of the old Scythians it was known in Greek as the Tanaïs, and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the Maeotian marshes. The name derives however from Scythian (East Iranian) Dānu "river", akin to Ossetic don "river", and Pashto dand (ډنډ) or dun (depending on dialect) "pond, lake". the name is (East Iranian) .
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thats right. Its Iranian, having nothing to do with Celts and Celtic language!
 
dodona said:
thats right. Its Iranian, having nothing to do with Celts and Celtic language!
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Why would it be Iranian? The only Iranian-(Scythian)- speaking peoples that actually lived at the Danube in Antiquity were the Iazyges (in eastern Hungary). In contrast, Celtic-speaking peoples lived at the entirety of the Danube, in particular its source area (probably part of the Celtic homeland). Furthermore, many of the tributaries of the Danube have Celtic names, too. Notably the two source rivers in the Black forest that form the Danube, the Breg and Brigach. Other examples is the river Lech (Likios in the Antiquity - from the Celtic word for 'rock' or 'slab') and the Naab (Nābia in the Antiquity, there were rivers of identical name in Iberia and Britain). I'm with Maciamo that the Iranic words for river (or water body) are related, but the idea that the Scythians named the Danube seems far-fetched for me.
 
Brenta River

The Brenta river had an incredible importance in the historical-geographic development of Veneto. In Roman times the name was Medoacos/Meduacus (Strabo, Geographia, V, 1, 7; Livy, Ab Urbe condita, X, 2, 6; Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, III, 121) and only in the late Roman period and in the Early middle ages changed into Brintesia/Brinta (Tabula Peutingeriana, segm. III, 5; Venantius Fortunatus, Vita Sancti Martini, IV, 677).


Tagliamento river

mentioned by Pliny as the Tiliaventum Maius Minusque (Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, III, 126).
 
Rivers, mountains and historical cities in Slovakia

On rivers (and greater mountains and historical cities) in Slovakia don't exist etymology in Slovak and European languages. Linguistic expert Dr. Cyril Hromník present etymology on the majority rivers (, greater mountains and historical cities) in Slovakia from tamil dravic language. It is amazement.
Tamil language is reportedly oldest language of the world.
Lived before Indo-Europeans (Aryans) in Europa people with Tamil language which gave names rivers (greater mountains and historical cities) in Slovakia ? (Tamil is not Indo-European language)
I am sorry, full etymology scientific work from Cyril Hromník is only in Slovak language

I find this link of Cyril Hromník etymology presentation and historic theory, (English language!!!)
http://www.korenine.si/knige/Sloveni_korenine-Hromnik_UP.pdf
second link for download the same PDF file
(lecture Slovenia)
 
Maciamo said:
Rivers are some of the oldest geographic names, simply because they predate any human settlement, and were more important to our prehistoric ancestors (for drinking water, transport, washing...) than mountains. The origin of many rivers' name is lost in the depth of time. We nevertheless know the name (or one of the names) most of them had during the Iron Age, Bronze Age and sometimes even before.

Celtic names

- Danube (2,860 km) : from Celtic Dānu, meaning "to flow" (same origin for the Rivers Don, Dnieper and Dniester in Russia).
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Dniester river is in Ukraine and Moldova. Dniester, Dnieper, Don basins do not have known Celtic settlements or Celtic hydronyms. However, there were east Iranic settlements in those regions. Scythians and Sarmatians. Etymologies of these 3 rivers are widely considered Iranic in origin by scholars.

Don (Dan in Ossetian, Dan or Dn in Scythian) - water, river.
Dniepr - Dn-apr . Dn - water , apr - deep.
Dniestr - Dn -water, str (styr) - large, big in Ossetian.
 
Volat said:
Dniester river is in Ukraine and Moldova. Dniester, Dnieper, Don basins do not have known Celtic settlements or Celtic hydronyms. However, there were east Iranic settlements in those regions. Scythians and Sarmatians. Etymologies of these 3 rivers are widely considered Iranic in origin by scholars.

Don (Dan in Ossetian, Dan or Dn in Scythian) - water, river.
Dniepr - Dn-apr . Dn - water , apr - deep.
Dniestr - Dn -water, str (styr) - large, big in Ossetian.
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Don, Dn = water, river
Istros/Istru = strong, swift (dacian)
 
Heber said:
Shannon, the longest river in the British Isles.

The origin of the name is presumably that of the name of the Goddess associated with the river, "Sionna". Celtic in origin.
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The Dutch/German river Roer/Ruhr is beyond any doubt derived from a German root for movement. See German word rühren as reference. However, a votive stone has been recovered for the godess Rura. So it was most likely quite possible for a godess to take her name from river, rather than the other way around.
 
In South Germany near the source of the "Danube" there are some similar river names.

"Brigach" : source river of the "Danube"
"Breg" : the other source river of the "Danube"
"Beera": the first big river that flows into the "Danube"

What do you think? Are these river names connected to the similar "Ebro"?
 
geiserich said:
In South Germany near the source of the "Danube" there are some similar river names.

"Brigach" : source river of the "Danube"
"Breg" : the other source river of the "Danube"
"Beera": the first big river that flows into the "Danube"

What do you think? Are these river names connected to the similar "Ebro"?
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No. Celtic 'briga' = hill
ebro -> bask. 'ibar' = valley
 
cp. "Douro" (Portugal)
In Auvergne, we have both :
- a river Dore, a tributary of the Allier, itself running into the Loire.
- the Mont Dore, literally, the "mountain from which the water flows". It's a volcanic massif, in which one can find :
- The source of the river Dordogne (itself from "dour" < dubr)
- A small town called La Bourboule (after Borvo, a Celtic god of springs, if I remember rightly)

Besides, - Breton people will have to confirm this -, but I think "water" is "dour" in today's Breton language.
 
Is it posible a link to basc URA=water? do+ura=dour
 
Cip said:
Is it posible a link to basc URA=water? do+ura=dour
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In Albanian the word ura = bridge. I hope this can help in your discussion.
 
Douro is from western Iberian romance for of "of gold". If it is also a Celtic name, then it was borrowed, and called something else first.

See also "de oro" (spanish, "of gold") and especially "de ouro" (portuguese). Drop the first 'e' and combine the two words, and you're left with douro, very much like you'd actually say the phrase in portuguese.

The Romans mined the area for gold.
 
It's fascinating how many names there are for the Danube, one of the longest rivers in Europe. But most of them all tie back to that same Celtic root 'Danu-', which dispersed into all kinds of different languages by different routes.
 
Volat said:
Dniester river is in Ukraine and Moldova. Dniester, Dnieper, Don basins do not have known Celtic settlements or Celtic hydronyms. However, there were east Iranic settlements in those regions. Scythians and Sarmatians. Etymologies of these 3 rivers are widely considered Iranic in origin by scholars.

Don (Dan in Ossetian, Dan or Dn in Scythian) - water, river.
Dniepr - Dn-apr . Dn - water , apr - deep.
Dniestr - Dn -water, str (styr) - large, big in Ossetian.
Click to expand...

Name of Jordan River in the Middle East is also from Proto-Iranian *yarədanu “year-river”.
 
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