![Kaunas kunfluejo de Nemunas kaj Neris](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Kaunas_kunfluejo_de_Nemunas_kaj_Neris.jpg)
The river Neris () or Viliya ( be, Ві́лія, pl, Wilia ) rises in northern
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
. It flows westward, passing through
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
(
Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the
Nemunas
The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ...
(Neman), at
Kaunas, as its main tributary. Its length is .
For
After Belarus the river runs through Lithuania.
The Neris connects successive Lithuanian capitals –
Kernavė
Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site (population 272, 2011). It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania. A Lithuania ...
and
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
. Along its banks are burial places of the
pagan Lithuanians. At from Vilnius are the old burial mounds of
Karmazinai, with many mythological stones and a sacred oak.
Dual naming
The reasons for the dual naming of the river as Neris by the Lithuanians and Viliya (formerly ''Velja'', meaning "big, great" in Slavic) by the Slavs are complex. Even in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, there are
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
s including both names, e. g. ''Neris'' remains in the riverside names of ''
Paneriai'' and ''Paneriškės'' while ''Velja'' is a part of the name ''Valakampiai'', which means "an angle of Velja" in Lithuanian.
Vykintas Vaitkevičius
Vykintas Vaitkevičius is a Lithuanian archaeologist.
Vaitkevičius graduated from the Vilnius University (1996: B.S. history, specialty archaeology; 1998: M.S. history, specialty archaeology; 2000: doctorate in humanities) br>Mysterious Neris
''Šiaurės Atėnai''. 2005-07-23 nr. 758 In Kaunas, a part of the city by the Neris river, that was formerly a separate town, is also named
Vilijampolė
Vilijampolė is a neighborhood in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, located on the right bank of the Neris River and the Nemunas River, near their confluence. Part of a larger which consists of Vilijampolė, , , and neighorhoods, and covers 1,720 h ...
(Vilija + polis, that means "
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
by Vilija").
Although it has been suggested that ''Neris'' is the primeval name of the river, while the name ''Viliya'' is of secondary extraction,
[ the dual naming most probably emerged from the confluence of the rivers Neris (now known as Narach River, leaving ]Lake Narach
Lake Narach ( be, На́рач, ''Narač'' ; russian: На́рочь, ''Naročj''; lt, Narutis, pl, Narocz) is a lake in north-western Belarus ( Myadzyel District, Minsk Region), located in the basin of the Viliya river. It is the largest lake ...
) and Velja, in the historical Slavic/Baltic borderland, each ethnos choosing their own name for the river starting at the confluence. It is moreover evidenced by the fact that the name ''Neris'' was never used to name the river Velja up to this confluence. Therefore, it has been proposed that the Narach River had in fact been considered the upper reaches of Neris by the Balts in ancient times.
Etymology of "Neris"
The name ''Neris'' is of Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
origin, a cognate of the Lithuanian ''nerti'' generally meaning "to dive, swim downstream" as well as "to net, crochet". It is likely that the name had a more general meaning of "flow" or particularly "swift and swirling flow"[V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, L-P, V., 1996, t. 3, p. 178-179] in early times.
Etymologically, the name is one of a class of hydronym
A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As ...
s, widespread in the modern and prehistoric Baltic ranges; e.g., Lithuanian Narotis, Narasa (rivers), Narutis (lake), Old Prussian Narus, Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
near Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. These are related to Lithuanian ''narus'', "deep", and ''nerti'', "to dive".
More remote connections are obscure, although the root is believed to be Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
. There are a number of possibilities:
* Pokorny's 2nd ''*ner-'', "under" (''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
The ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'' (''IEW''; "Indo-European Etymological Dictionary") was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny. It is an updated and slimmed-down ...
'', pp765–766);
*Derksen's *, o-grade * (''Slavic Inherited Lexicon'');
*A relation to the Greek god
The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion.
Immortals
The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...
Nereus
In Greek mythology, Nereus ( ; ) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia ( the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids) and a son ( Nerites), with whom Nereus ...
, which may be from *''snau-'', "to give milk to", in the sense of "flow" (Partridge, ''Origins'' (1983)).
* Another relationship of "Neris" with the Sanskrit word "Neer"/"Naar" which means water.
Basin
Total watershed is , of which with are in Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
.
Basin within Belarus
The river is called Viliya in Belarus. There is the Belarus largest Vileyka Reservoir by Viliya, up off the Vileyka
Vileyka ( officially transliterated as Viliejka, be, Віле́йка , also ''Вялейка''; russian: Вилейка; lt, Vileika; pl, Wilejka) is a city in Belarus and the administrative center of the Vileyka District of Minsk Region. It is ...
city.
Right tributaries
* Narach
* Servach
*Stracha
The Stracha ( be, Страча) is a river of Belarus. It is a right tributary of the Vilija
The river Neris () or Viliya ( be, Ві́лія, pl, Wilia ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's c ...
Left tributaries
* Iliya
* Usha
*Ashmyanka
Ashmyanka ( be, Ашмянка , lt, Ašmena, pl, Oszmianka, russian: Ошмянка) is a river in Belarus. Tributary of Neris (''Wilia''), it has a length of 104 km, starting from the village of Muravanaya Ashmyanka and passing through t ...
Basin within Lithuania
The watershed within Lithuania is [Neries mažųjų intakų (su Nerimi) pabaseinis]
(Basin small tributaries of Neris (including Neris))
Tributaries
*Verkė
Verkė is a small (around 2 km. long) rivulet in Vilnius, Lithuania, which gave the name to the Verkiai neighborhood. According to legends, it was the birthplace of the semi-legendary pagan priest Lizdeika, a forefather of the Radziwiłł ...
*Vilnia
The Vilnia (also ''Vilnelė''; , ''Vilnia'' ; ) is a river in Lithuania. Its source is near the village of Vindžiūnai, 5 km south of Šumskas, at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The Vilnia is 79.6 km long and its basin covers 624&n ...
*Vokė
The Vokė is a river in south-east Lithuania. It is a left tributary of Neris. Vokė flows from Papis Lake, near Merkys.
References
Rivers of Lithuania
{{Lithuania-river-stub ...
* Bražuolė
* Dūkšta
* Musė
* Laukysta
* Lomena
* Šventoji
* Lokys
* Šešuva
* Saidė
Notes and references
External links
*
{{Authority control
Neris basin
Rivers of Grodno Region
Rivers of Minsk Region
Rivers of Lithuania
International rivers of Europe
Belarus–Lithuania border
Paneriai
Rivers of Belarus