Lietauka
Encyclopedia
Lietava, Lietauka or Letauka is a rivulet in Lithuania
that is believed to have given Lithuania its name
. It is 11 km in length and flows into Neris
30 km away from Kernavė
, a possible first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. It flows through a swampy region and no important archaeological findings have been discovered on its banks. As the river flows in the lowlands and easily spills over its banks, most linguists agree that Lithuania's name (Lietuva) is related and perhaps derived from Lithuanian verb lieti (to spil), of the root derived from the Proto-Indo-European *leyǝ-.
Since many names in the Indo-European languages
are derived from hydronym
s, scientists had been looking for a body of water matching the name of Lithuania
, Lietuva. Kazys Kuzavinis identified Lietauka as a possible candidate and popularized the hypothesis. The original name of Lietauka must have been Lietava, which was Slavicised by Old Believers
expelled from the Russian Empire
and established on the banks of the river, as Litavka, and phonetically reversed to Lithuanian as Lietauka by local Lithuanians.
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
that is believed to have given Lithuania its name
Name of Lithuania
The first known record of the name of Lithuania is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno recorded in the Quedlinburg Chronicle . The Chronicle recorded a Latinized Slavic form of the name Lietuva: Litua pronounced [litvā]...
. It is 11 km in length and flows into Neris
Neris
Neris is a river rising in Belarus, flowing through Vilnius and becoming a tributary of the Neman River at Kaunas...
30 km away from Kernavė
Kernave
Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site . It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania...
, a possible first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. It flows through a swampy region and no important archaeological findings have been discovered on its banks. As the river flows in the lowlands and easily spills over its banks, most linguists agree that Lithuania's name (Lietuva) is related and perhaps derived from Lithuanian verb lieti (to spil), of the root derived from the Proto-Indo-European *leyǝ-.
Since many names in the Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
are derived from hydronym
Hydronym
A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history...
s, scientists had been looking for a body of water matching the name of Lithuania
Name of Lithuania
The first known record of the name of Lithuania is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno recorded in the Quedlinburg Chronicle . The Chronicle recorded a Latinized Slavic form of the name Lietuva: Litua pronounced [litvā]...
, Lietuva. Kazys Kuzavinis identified Lietauka as a possible candidate and popularized the hypothesis. The original name of Lietauka must have been Lietava, which was Slavicised by Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
expelled from the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and established on the banks of the river, as Litavka, and phonetically reversed to Lithuanian as Lietauka by local Lithuanians.