Neiße

German

Alternative forms

Neisse

Etymology

From a form of Polish Nysa, Czech Nisa, first documented in 981, in its turn maybe from Old High German, ultimately uncertain. Most often assumed to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *neyd- with a s-initial suffix,^[1]^[2] compare Sanskrit नेद् (ned, “to go, flow”). Alternatively derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂-, compare Proto-Celtic *nāwā (→ “trough”, “valley”), Proto-Indo-Iranian *naHwiyás (→ “canal”, “navigable river”).^[3] In either case sometimes assumed to be from a pre-Germanic and pre-Slavic, Indo-European substrate.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ̯sə/
Rhymes: -aɪ̯sə

Proper noun

die Neiße f (proper noun, usually definite, definite genitive der Neiße)

Neisse (a river)
Nysa (a river)

References

^ Greule, Albrecht (2014) Deutsches Gewässernamenbuch: Etymologie der Gewässernamen und der dazugehörigen Gebiets-, Siedlungs- und Flurnamen, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
^ Blažek, Václav (2010), “Etymological analysis of toponyms from Ptolemy’s Description of Central Europe”. in: Brozović Rončević, D, Fomin, M & Matasović, R (eds) 2010, Celts and Slavs in Central and Southeastern Europe. Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium of Societas Celto-Slavica, held between 18-20 September 2008 in Dubrovnik (Croatia). Studia Celto-Slavica III. Institut za Hrvatski Jezik i Jezikoslovlje. →ISBN
^ Udolph, Jürgen (1990). Die Stellung der Gewässernamen Polens innerhalb der alteuropäischen Hydronymie. Heidelberg : Winter.

[1] Greule, Albrecht (2014) Deutsches Gewässernamenbuch: Etymologie der Gewässernamen und der dazugehörigen Gebiets-, Siedlungs- und Flurnamen, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

[2] Blažek, Václav (2010), “Etymological analysis of toponyms from Ptolemy’s Description of Central Europe”. in: Brozović Rončević, D, Fomin, M & Matasović, R (eds) 2010, Celts and Slavs in Central and Southeastern Europe. Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium of Societas Celto-Slavica, held between 18-20 September 2008 in Dubrovnik (Croatia). Studia Celto-Slavica III. Institut za Hrvatski Jezik i Jezikoslovlje. →ISBN

[3] Udolph, Jürgen (1990). Die Stellung der Gewässernamen Polens innerhalb der alteuropäischen Hydronymie. Heidelberg : Winter.

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