Upių vardai „Neris“ ir „Vilija“

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, XXXII (1993) BALTŲ ONOMASTIKOS TYRINĖJIMAI ALEKSANDRAS VANAGAS RIVER NAMES NERIS AND VILIJA The largest tributary of the Nemunas is, as it were, a river with two names: Lithuanians call it Nerimi, while speakers of some other languages, above all Poles, call it Vilija. Much has been written about these two names for a single river. The first, Neris, raises little doubt, whereas the second, Vilija, remains a subject of debate to this day. It is therefore worthwhile to discuss both in greater detail once again and draw a conclusion about their relationship. Neris. Before examining the origin of the name, it should be said that Lithuanians formerly used this name for the entire river—from its upper reaches to its mouth. This is demonstrated by the living language and historical sources. There is no doubt that Lithuanians called the river Neris alone from Vilnius to its mouth: it is still called this almost everywhere. At present, inhabitants call only a short stretch west of Vilnius Vilija. But this living-language tradition cannot be old—it arose after most of the local population became Slavic-speaking. Earlier, local people too knew only the form Neris. This is clearly attested, for example, by the early nineteenth-century historian M. Balinskis in his work “History of the City of Vilnius.” He writes: “Co większa, dotąd więśniacy litewscy, nad brzegami tej rzeki zamieszkali, niżej Wilna, nazywają ją Niaria” (1: 7). The place names Paneriai (Upper and Lower)—a part of the city of Vilnius; Panerias—a village in Kaišiadorys District; and Paneriai—a village in Trakai District—were formed from the name Nerės. Some of them are very old. For instance, Vilnius’s Paneriai is mentioned as early as 1390: willam nostram Ponary (2: 31). A different situation developed east of Vilnius: local inhabitants, now almost all non-Lithuanian, call the river Vilija or Vilža. But this applies not to all of the Neris’s upper reaches, only to a certain stretch. Farther upstream, the situation becomes differentiated: non-Lithuanians use the name Vilija (more precisely, Velja, Vialia—see below), while Lithuanians, especially those around Gervėčiai, most often use Neris (3: 5). A. Salys had, however, recorded the form Velža, -os, Velžą in Gervėčiai even before the war. Place names derived from Neris include Понарь (a village on the Neris in Belarus, in the Kiemeliškės rural district)—recorded in 1873 (4: 6) and 1874 (5: 9); Ponance, a village in the Varnionys deanery, near the town of Svyruonėliai (Świranki) (6: 539); and Ponary, a manor in the Nadwilia deanery, Hołubice district—now Belarusian Гамбо́ўка, Гамбо́ўскае п-са (6: 495). Thus, there can be no doubt that the name Nerės was known to the inhabitants of the river’s upper reaches as well. Consequently, the name Vilija is seemingly secondary, given to a particular stretch of the river in a very distinctive way, as we shall see. The entire river has long been called Nerimi. The antiquity of the name is also demonstrated, among other things, by 230 This is also shown by its occurrences in historical sources—the western tradition records only the form Nerìs: Nerge in 1340 (7: I 539), Nerga in 1361 (7: II 531), Nerye in 1377 (7: III 106), Nerye in 1391 (7: III 154), Nerye in 1404 (7: III 272), and so on. Wigand of Marburg wrote in 1390: Pons fit trans Nergam (7: II 643). There is little doubt about the name’s origin. M. Balinskis, perhaps the first to explain the origin of Nerìes in greater detail, linked it to the verb nérti—that is, the river supposedly “submerged” (1: 6). Later researchers found cognates of the name in Latvian (Nereta), Russian (Nereta), and other Indo-European languages, but no one denied its connection with Lithuanian nérti, “to plunge suddenly, enter the water; to submerge; to swim underwater.” Only the semantics have been refined, with the suggestion that ner- may have had a more general original meaning related to flowing, or the like (8: 228). Vilija. Having established the fact that the river, along its entire length, was called Nerimi by Lithuanians (Balts), it is necessary to determine where and how the other name Vìlija arose. Since various opinions have been expressed about it, it is useful to present the more important historiographical evidence as well. In the early nineteenth century, the same historian, M. Balinskis, was the first to make a detailed attempt to explain the name Vìlijos, just as he had for Nerìes. Among other things, he thought it possible to connect the name with Lithuanian vilióju (he writes: Wilojų tudże) or with vỹlius — Wilius zdrada: a wtenczas Wilja znaczyć będzie zdradzał, that is, “enticed, deceived” (1: 6–7). In his 1913 article “Kann man Keltenspuren auf baltischen Gebiet nachweisen?” K. Būga considered the name Vìlija Baltic and linked it with Lithuanian vielóti, “to wind,” deriving it from Indo-European *uei-lā (9: I 519). Later, when it became clear that river names Velja, Vilija also occur south of the Pripyat (e.g., Велья—a tributary of the Sniežates; Вилия—a tributary of the Teterevo; Вилия—a tributary of the Gorinios; Вилия—a tributary of the Slučės), K. Būga abandoned his earlier view and considered them Slavic (9: III 503–504). Many other linguists also addressed Vilijos. For instance, T. Lehr-Splawinski regarded Vilija as a Balto-Slavic name (10: 64); J. Otrębski considered it Baltic and linked it with Lithuanian vilnis and related forms (11: 172–175); M. Vasmer thought Old Russian *Велья derived from an earlier form *Вълья (16: I 315); and V. Toporov and O. Trubachev considered it a difficult case, since these hydronyms occur south of the Pripyat and display vowel variation: *Велья — Вилия (12: 179). A comprehensive article by A. Salys on the name of the city of Vilniaus appeared in volume 34 of the “Lithuanian Encyclopedia” (Boston, 1966). The article also discusses the origin of the river name Vilija. A. Salys demonstrated with sufficient argumentation that Vilija is a late form of the river name—the earlier form was Velja and the like. The latter, he argued, is a Slavicism, from Old Church Slavonic velija, “great” (13: II 173–178). Despite A. Salys’s well-supported (though perhaps not sufficiently detailed) view, the carousel kept turning. In 1968, O. Trubachev called the river names Вилия Balto-Slavic (14: 284), while J. Nalepa, that same year, called them Baltic (15: 82). In 1974, V. Žučkevičius noted that local Belarusians call Vìliją Велья, Вяля and, like A. Salys (understandably, unaware of this author), derived the river name from Slavic велья, “great” (21: 51). At about the same time, V. Ivanov and V. Toporov classified Vìliją among place names of demonological origin, linking it with Veliuona, Vėlnėžeris, Lithuanian velė, vėlnis and related forms (17: 177; 18: 125). In a comprehensive study of the name Vilniaus 231. V. Toporovas later tried once again to substantiate this hypothesis (37: 57). Doubts nevertheless remained, and the discussion continued. The author of these lines also made a fairly extensive attempt to explain the origin of the name. Having established that Lithuania abounds in hydronyms and other place names with the root vil- (including two more rivers of the same name: Vilija at Plungė and Vilija at Butrimonys), it seemed possible to regard Vilija as a toponym belonging to the vil- family (8: 382–383). M. Razmukaitė recently endorsed this view (19: 33). Somewhat later, I had occasion to return to the subject of Vilija, but this time from the perspective advocated in this article (20: 4–5). Only the more important studies of the river name Vilija have been mentioned here, but even these show that the problem remains unresolved. This was due to many causes, of which two or three stand out more clearly. First, researchers from different countries and periods worked excessively in isolation; as a result, some opinions—especially A. Salys’s—remained almost without response or influence. Second, some linguists (including the author of these lines) were not impartial and showed a degree of subjectivity in desperately trying to impose the idea of a Baltic origin for Vilija. Third, and perhaps most important, historical source material had not been consulted adequately. In this case, it is of utmost importance: So what do historical records of Vilija show? As noted, Western texts have used the form Neris since the earliest times. Chronicles written in East Slavic languages (or in a mixture of them) likewise attest the form Velja or similar from the earliest times. It is perhaps first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex in 1232 (thus considerably earlier than Neris!): Велья (9: III 503; 13: II 178). Велья и уже взял бы Литовской земли по Велию реку... (21: 51). This is especially clear in volume XVII of the compendium “Polnoje sobranije russkich letopisej,” which, as is known, contains all the most important chronicles concerning Lithuania (22)1. These include the Supraski (hereafter Supr.), Uvarov (Uvar.), Academic (Akad.), the first part of Krasinski (Kras. I), Vilnius (V.), Litovskomu rodu počinok (LRP), Origo regis Iaguelo et Wytholdi ducum Lithuaniae (Origo), the second part of Krasinski (Kras. II), the Archaeological Society (Arch.), Raciński (Rač.), Jevreinov (Jevr.), Rodoslovije velikich kniazej Litovskogo kniažestva (Rodosl.), Pochvala Vitovta (Pochv.), Olševo (Olš.), Bychovco (Bych.), and the so-called appendices. They were written approximately in the 15th–17th centuries (22: I–XIV; 23: 3–15; 24: 10–16; 25: 99–104). The name Vilija occurs in them about 100 times. In Cyrillic texts, it is invariably Velja or similar: земли по Велню; по за Вельском (Supr. 22: 63), по Велню реку, на реке на Вели (ibid., 79), по рекоу Велню; на реке на Вели (Uvar. 22: 92), по Завельском земли, по Завелию (ibid., 106), по реке к Вельи; на Вельи (Akad. 22: 146), по Велью; на реке на 1 They were reissued by the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1980 (23). This article uses the earlier edition, which preserves the more archaic spelling. 232 Вельи (ibid., 150), к рече к Вели; на Вели (Kras. I 22: 158–159), по Велию; на Вели (ibid., 165), на Вели (V. 22: 196), по реку Велию; на рече на Вельи (ibid., 200), к рече Велии; на Велии (LRP 22: 210), по реку по Велию; на рече на Вели (ibid., 216), за рекою Велью в землю Завельскую; за Велею поселы; за реку Велю (Kras. II: 229–231), на реку Велию в землю Завельскую (Arch. 22: 242), на Завельской стороне, люди тьцы что за Велею осели (ibid., 243), за реку Велю (ibid., 244), на реку Велю в землю Завельскую; за Велею (Rac. 22: 298), реку Велю; в реку Велю (ibid., 306), къ рече Вели (ibid., 319), реку Велью; на рече на Вели (ibid., 324), на реку Велию в землю Завельскую; за реку Велию (Jevr. 22: 361), реку Велию (ibid., 368), к рече Вели; на Вели (ibid., 382), по реку Велию (ibid., 386) and so on. A similar situation is found in three chronicles written in Latin script: na rzeka Vielyą ziemie Zavielskie (Olš. 22: 424), podle rzeki Vielyey; w Vielyg (ibid., 431), rzeką Velyą (ibid., 433), za rzeką Velyą (ibid., 440), ką rzece Vielyeu (ibid., 445), na rzece Viely (ibid., 450), za rzeku Wellu; za Wellej (Bych. 22: 476), za reku Wellu (ibid., 478), reku Wellu (ibid., 487), za reku Wellu (ibid., 493), po Wellu (ibid., 511), pereszed Wellu; w rece Welli (ibid., 513), na rece Welli (ibid., 512). There are two exceptions—ad flumen Vilia (Origo 22: 223) and: k rece Willii (Bych. 22: 504). But a few lines later it again reads na Welli (ibid.). The picture is the same in other sources written in East Slavic, including the Lithuanian Metrica: за Велю in 1493 (28: 134), на Вельи in 1516 (26: 420), въ Ковне на Вельи in 1554 (27: 101), въ Ковне на Велию in 1554 (ibid., 250), въ Ковне на Вельи in 1554 (ibid., 256), до... реку Вели in 1565 (ibid., 802), подле реки Вели in 1565 (ibid., 803), Веля in 1565 (ibid.), Велею вниз in 1565 (ibid., 804), у Велю in 1565–1566 (ibid., 882), у Велью, Велью у-ереха in 1565–1566 (ibid., 883), у Велью in 1565–1566 (ibid., 885), до Вельи; рекою Вельею; у Велю реку in 1565–1566 (ibid., 886). Thus, East Slavic sources have used only Velia, Velja since the earliest times. There is no doubt that the root vel- here is original and authentic. Together with A. Šalys (13: 178), it can confidently be derived from Old Slavic, Old Russian, and Old Belarusian вели “large” (16: I 288, 29: III 82), велья “large” (feminine) (21: 51). Thus, the original meaning of the river name Velia, Velja was “large, great.” The first East Slavs to become acquainted with Vilnius must have given this name to one of the city’s two principal rivers. One, the smaller, is Vilnia (a left tributary of the Neris), which gave its name to Lithuania’s capital. The other, the larger, is Velia, Velja, meaning “large, great.” This corresponds perfectly to reality: Vilnia, the “small one,” flows into Velja (the Neris), the “great one.” This relationship between the two rivers was well known to the sources mentioned above (and others): подле реки Вели где река Вильня оу Велю впадывает (Kras. I 22: 235), на оустьи реки Вильны где оу Велю впадывает (ibid.), на оустьи реки Вильны, где оу Велю оупадывает; подле реки Вели где река Вильня оупадывает оу Велю (Arch. 22: 251), подле реки Вельи где река Вильня упсывает у Велю (Rac. 22: 305), подле реки Вельи // где река Вильна в Велю впадывает (Jevr. 22: 366), podle rzeki Vielyey 233 where the Vilna River flows into the Velya; the Vilna River, where it flows into the Vielya (Olš. 22: 431), the river... Velya... on the Vilna River, a mile from the mouth of the Vielya River, where it flows into the Velya River near Rakunciszki (ibid., 433), the Wellu River... on the Wiłneju River, a mile from the mouth of the Wilni River, where it flows into the Wellu River (Bych. 22: 487). As we can see, the sources use two forms of the same name – Беля and Велья. They apparently reflect East Slavic pronunciation, since even present-day Belarusians know both: Вяляя and Велья (21: 51). For its part, this doublet is most likely connected with corresponding variation in the adjective – cf. Old Russian велий and вьлъи (30: II 61). That Belarusian forms with vel- still in use today are not new is shown by place names derived from the river’s name. For example, the town’s name Vileika is still often pronounced by Belarusians as Veleika (21: 51). The name of a village in Astravets District, by contrast, is officially written only as Завеллье (ibid., 127). Having established that the Neris’s second name, Velia, Velja, is Slavic, formed in Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic, we must determine when and how the variant Vilija. arose. A. Salys had already noted that this is a relatively recent form, in his view no older than the 16th century (13: II 178). It is now difficult to say when the variant with vil- was first mentioned. A privilege granted by Jogaila in 1390 calls the Neris Vigilija: in fluvio Vigilia (1: 6). M. Balinskis says that some other authors of earlier times also used the form Vigilija, e.g., S. Sarnicki (ibid.). But this form is most likely merely a kind of occasionalism, arising, among other things, under the influence of the religious term Latin vigilia, Polish wigilia (modern Lithuanian vigilija). There may have been other reasons too—for instance, the river name Velia, Velja may have been linked, by so-called folk etymology, with Lithuanian vėlės, vėlės ‘spirits of the dead’, vėlinės ‘festivals honoring the dead’. And vigilija means ‘the eve of Catholic feast days’. The source and impetus for the spread of the principal variant with vil- was apparently the works of J. Długosz. This author derived the river names Vilija and Vilnia and the town’s name Vilnia (Vilnius) from the supposed name of a duke, Vilius. Accordingly, he wrote all three place names with the same root, vil-: ”Item V i l i a, cuis fons circa villam Kamyen... Item Wylna, cuis fons circa villam Lawarzysky, ostia in V i l i a m circa civitatem W y l n o... Item W y l n a, honore episcopali et arce editori praedita, duobus fluminibus W y l n a et V i l i a” (37: 11–12). Later authors followed J. Długosz’s tradition, for example the chronicler M. Stryjkowski: nad Wilią; do Wiliej; za rzekę Wilią (39: I 85), Wiliej rzeki; nad rzeką Wilią (ibid., 86), między Waką i Wilią rzekami; gdzie rzeka Wilna do Wiliej wpada (ibid., 369), przy ujściu Wilny, gdzie do Wiliej wpada przy zamkach nad Wilną; Wilja osadziło (ibid., 372) nad Wilją (ibid., 373), and so on. After the major historical works of J. Długosz and M. Stryjkowski, which had (and continue to have) an enormous influence on the development of historical scholarship in Eastern Europe, Vilija gained currency first and foremost in Polish literature. Later it began to be used in spoken Polish as well and entered Lithuanian written usage—in the 16th century it was already quite widespread 234 widespread. For instance, in the 1554 inventory of the Nemenčinė and Linkmenys districts of the Vilnius estate, written in Polish, the form Vilija is used consistently (31: 29—83): from the river Wiliey (31: 32, 33, 34, 35, 36), Wilį (ibid., 43, 46, 76, 77, 78, 79). Compare also: Vilia in 1507 (32: 25), to Wiliy in 1668 (33: 272), the river Wiliy in 1686 (ibid., 351), Wilia in 1784 (34), Willia in 1798 (32: 191), and so on. The spread of the form Vilija in Polish was helped by its overcoming earlier variants with vel-, as well as by the fact that two of the other three place-names (very often used close to one another) had the root vil-: the river Vilnia and the city Vilnia (Vilnius). Thus Velja readily assimilated to those two. Nevertheless, even as the form Vilija became established, scribes of that period often apparently knew, or at least sensed, that the river also had another, genuine name. J. Sprogis wrote: Велжа и Веля (ныне Вилія) (35: 42). Compare also the 1854 entry: Wilja, formerly known as Neris (36: 91). In any case, the form Vilija is now universally established—Polish Wilija, Belarusian Віля. As is well known, even Lithuanian authors often used it—Maironis, S. Neris, and others. Apparently, this very circumstance also prevented some authors from believing that it was a later, secondary form. All the more so because in 1913 K. Būga derived Velja from Old Russian Воложа (Lithuanian Vilija) (9: I 526). Later, having abandoned the idea of a Baltic origin for Vilija, he likewise derived from *Voloža the name Велья, recorded in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1232 as the name of a Volhynian river, and supposed that the Slavs had brought this name to Lithuania and given it to the Neris. That Voloža supposedly turned into Vilija in Lithuanian mouths (ibid., III 503–504). In theory, it is possible to derive the form Велья from *Voloža, but in this case there is not the slightest basis for doing so. As we have seen, East Slavic chronicles and other writings use only Велья or Веля. Even if a spelling such as *Воложа were to occur, it could still be explained by the aforementioned variation in the adjective meaning “large”: велий — велий. But this author is unaware of any such spelling. The idea that the root vel- in the name was derived from an earlier vil- is completely refuted by the spellings of the name in historical sources. Wherever the original root of the name was vil-, this is what the sources reflect; where it had long been vel-, that is how it is written. Our case is convenient because the sources often mention side by side the river names Vilnia, Velja and the city name Vilnia (Vilnius). The roots vel-, vil- are not confused: по Велою реку—but Вильно (Supr. 22: 79); по реку Велью—but Вилну, Вильню (Uvar. 22: 92); по Велью—but Вильно, Вильни (Akad. 22: 50); к реке к Вели — but Вильно, Вильни (Kras. I 22: 158); на Вельви — but Вильно, Вильни (V. 22: 200); река Вильня ou Велю впадывает (Kras. II 22: 235); по Велию — but Вилне, Вильно (LRP 22: 216); на оусти реки Вилни, где оу Вело оупадывает (Arch. 22: 251); где река Вильна упадывает в Вело (Rač. 22: 305); gde река Вильна в Вело впадывает (Jevr. 22: 366); где река Вильна упада в Велю (Olš. 22: 431); за реку Велю; над река Vilna; Vilno (Olš. 22: 440); od ustija reki Wilni kde upadywaet w reku Wellu (Bych. 22: 487), and so on. Thus, the contexts in which the river name Velja occurs in the sources do not allow us to suppose that the root vel- here is secondary, of later origin. If its root had been vil-, that is what we would find written (as in Vilnia—the river and the city). 235. Without examining all this closely, and relying solely on K. Būga’s authority, J. Otrębski (11: 173–174) derived the form Vilija from * Voloja, and later M. Vasmer did so as well (16: 1 315). This elegant argument thus created the conditions for a mistaken interpretation of the origin of the city name Vilnius too (for more on this, see A. Salys 13: 177–178). To conclude, one more detail. It is known that the Lithuanians of Gervėčiai call the river not only Neris, but also Velia (38: 224). In 1968, I also recorded this form from Polish-speaking inhabitants of the village of Prienai in Švenčionys district: Veilją (alongside Vilja and Viliją). This is most likely a new variant that arose as Neris was being displaced from usage. It is probably a phonologically somewhat altered form of the Belarusian pronunciations Велья and Вяля. Thus, the river-name variants Velsa and Velja that arose in East Slavic languages have nothing in common with other hydronyms of the Baltic root vil-. LITERATŪRA 1. Baliński M. Historya miasta Wilna. Wilno, 1836. T. 1. 2. Codex diplomaticus ecclesiae cathedralis necnon dioeceseos Vilnensis (Kodeks dyplomatyczny katedry i diecezji Wileńskiej). 1387—1507. Kraków, 1948. 3. Kardelytė J. Gervėčių tarmė. V., 1975. 4. Списокъ волостей и сельскихъ обществъ по мировымъ участкамъ Виленской губернии 1873 года. Вильна, 1873. 5. Списокъ волостей и сельскихъ обществъ по мировымъ участкамъ Виленской губернии 1874 года. Вильна, 1874. 6. Synodus archidioecesana Vilnensis ab excellentissimo illustrissimo ac reverendissimo domino Romualdo Jalbrzykowski. Vilno, 1932. 7. Scriptores rerum Prussicarum. Leipzig, 1861—1874. T. 1—5. 8. Vanagas A. Lietuvių hidronimų etimologinis žodynas. V., 1981. 9. Būga K. Rinktiniai raštai. V., 1958—1961. T. 1—3. 10. Lehr-Splawiński T. O pochodzeniu i praojczyźnie słowian. Poznań, 1946. 11. Otrębski J. Beiträge zur baltisch—slavischen Namenkunde // Beiträge zur Namenforschung. Heidelberg, 1960. H. 2. S. 172—178. 12. Топоров В.Н., Трубачев О.Н. Лингвистический анализ гидронимов Верхнего Поднепровья. М., 1962. 13. Salys A. Rinktiniai raštai. Roma, 1983. T. 2. 14. Трубачев О.Н. Названия рек правобережной Украины. М., 1968. 15. Nalepa J. Słowiańszczyzna północno-zachodna. Podstawy jedności i jej rozpad. Poznań, 1968. 16. Фасмер М. Этимологический словарь русского языка. М., 1964—1973. Т 1—4. 17. Иванов В.В., Топоров В.Н. Исследования в области славянских древностей. М., 1974. 18. Иванов В.В., Топоров В.Н. Мифологические географические названия как источник для реконструкции этногенеза и древнейшей истории славян. // Вопросы этногенеза и этнической истории славян и восточных романцев. М., 1976. С. 109—128. 19. Razmukaitė M. Neris ar Vilija? // Mokslas ir gyvenimas. 1989. Nr. 11. P. 33. 20. Vanagas A. Neris ir Vilija. // Mokslas ir gyvenimas. 1990. Nr. 8. P. 4—5. 21. Жучевич В.А. Краткий топонимический словарь Белоруссии. Минск, 1974. 22. Полное собрание русскихъ летописей. Т.17: Западнорусскія летописи. СПб., 1907. 236 23. Полное собрание русских летописей. Т. 35: Летописи белорусско-литовские. М., 1980. 24. Lietuvos metraštis. Bychovco kronika/ Vertė, įvadą ir paaiškinimus parašė Rimantas Jasas. V., 1971. 25. Jucas M. Lietuvos metraščiai. V., 1968. 26. Литовская метрика. СПб., 1903. Т. 1. 27. Литовская метрика. Ч. III: Книги Публичныхъ Делъ. Юрьевъ, 1914. Т.1. 28. Литовская метрика. Ч. I: Книги записей. СПб., 1910. Т.1. 29. Гістарычны слоўнік беларускай мовы. Мінск, 1982—1990. Вып. 1—10. 30. Словарь русского языка XI—XVII вв. М., 1975—1991. Вып. 1—17. 31. Istorijos archyvas. T. 1: XVI amžiaus Lietuvos inventoriai/ Surinko K. Jablonskis. K., 1934. 32. Jäger E. Prussia-Karten 1542—1810. 1982. 33. Lietuvos inventoriai. XVII a. Dokumentų rinkinys/Sudarė K. Jablonskis ir M. Jucas. V., 1962. 34. Vilniaus vyskupystės dekanatų vietovardžių sąrašai. 1784 m. // Lietuvos centrinis valstybinis istorijos archyvas, F SA — 18580, 19246, 19247, 19248, 19249, 19251, 19252, 19253, 19254, 19295. 35. С.Крогич и И. Географический словарь древней Жомойтской земли XVI столетия. Вильна, 1888. 36. Polujański A. Opisanie lasów Królestwa Polskiego i gubernij zachodnich cesarstwa Rossyjskiego... Warszawa, 1854. T. 2. 37. Топоров В.Н. Vilnius, Wilno, Вильна: город и миф // Балто-славянские этноязыковые контакты. М., 1980. 38. Lietuvos TSR upių ir ežerų vardynas. V., 1963. 39. Kronika Polska, Litewska, Żmódzka i wszystkiej Rusi Macieja Stryjkowskiego. Warszawa, 1846. T. 1—2. NAMES OF THE RIVER NERIS AND VILIJA Summary The present article states that in the past Lithuanians would call the river at full it’s length only Neris. Nowadays, Vilija another name of the river, which is used in Polish and sometimes in Lithuanian is of Slavonic origin. Its earlier form, used in the East Slavonic languages, was Velja or Vellia (from the Old Russian adjective velja “great”). The historian J. Długos was the first to change the root from vel- to vil- in Polish. 237.