Notes on local etymologies : abstract of paper / by R.N. Worth.

  • Richard Nicholls Worth
Date:
[1878]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on local etymologies : abstract of paper / by R.N. Worth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    NOTES ON LOCAL ETYMOLOGIES. ABSTRACT OF PAPER BY MR. R. N. WORTH, F.G.S., HON. MEM. (Read October 31st, 1878.) The oldest place names in Devon are Keltic in origin, and, follow- ing the usual rule, are those of the larger rivers. Of the smaller some are Keltic, some Teutonic, and a few are mixed. We are struck at the outset with a very remarkable group—the Tamar, Tavy, Taw, Torridge, and Teign. In each and all we find the same root, which appears in the names of the Thames, Tees, Tay, Tweed, Talf, and many other rivers, a generic Keltic word for water, which we may take as ta or tau. For want of recognizing this relation- ship there has been much confusion and inconsistency in the attempts to deal with these names. Tamar has been derived from the Gaelic tamh, “gentle.” Treating the root-word as meaning simply “ water,” we find that the final syllables in Tamar, Tavy, and Torridge, are nothing more than distinctive suffixes in the later Keltic Cornish. The Cornish branch of the Kymry treated this ta and tau as a proper name, and proceeded to distinguish one tau from the other by suitable affixes. Ta-mar is simply Ta,-mawr, the “big Ta,” or “water;” Ta-vy, Ta-veor, the “little Ta.” In the Taw we have the root untouched; but Tor-ridge is Ta-rhyd, the “ford Ta,” from the ford, rhyd, by which it was crossed by the Romans, a little above the present Bideford bridge. The Teign may be the “ icy ” or “ cold Ta,” eign having that significance. Every river within the Plymouth district has a name of Keltic origin. The Avon is from the root afon, “ water,” one of the com- monest of Keltic river names. The Erme is doubtful; but Polwhele blundered sadly when he traced it to the East, and held it to be indicative of Armewmw colonization. Chappie’s iar, “ a river,” and am, “ water,” though ingenious, is almost equally beside the mark. The Yealm presents a curious example of reactionary corruption. It is without doubt from the Kornu hay to, “a river.” The oldest recorded name is Yale. The modern name arose purely from the A
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