El río del olvido

Abstract

The Lusitanian hydronym Limaia has been translated into both Classical languages as «the River of Oblivion» (Greek Λήθη, Latin Oblivio, -onis). This semantics is supported by many ancient sources (e.g. by Livy, Pliny, Florus, Salustius, Silius Italicus, Strabo and so on), thus both Latin and Greek names represent the so called translational calques. It is possible that the word *limaiã (or a similar form) was a Lusitanian name for «oblivion, forgetfulness», derived from the Indo-European root *ghleim- «to forget», cf. ON. gleyma, Icel. gleyma, Dan. glemme, Swed. glömma «to forget». However, the Lusitanian hydronym Limaia (Gk. Λιμαία, Lat. Limaea) cannot be separated from the name of an Old Prussian lake *Limaiō, attested as early as in the fourteenth century AD (1362 inter hos lacum videlicet Lymaio; 1364 et versus lacum Lyma, 1386 inter lacus Lymaio). Both these water-names originate from IE. *leim- «to flood, inundate», see Bret. liñva vb. «to flood, inundate, drown», Welsh llif m. «flow, flood», MBret. livat «flood», Corn. lyf «flood, inundation» (< Celt. *līmos), Toch. A lyam, B lyäm «lake» (< *limen-), Alb. lumë, lumenj m. «river» (< *limen-), Greek limhvn m. «harbour, haven, creek», orig. «bay», λίμνη f. «a pool of standing water; a marshy lake, mere; a large pool or basin». The author believes that reflexes of the two different Indo-European roots *leim- «to flood» and *ghleim- «to forget» became conflated in Lusitanian. Thus the Lusitanian «flood-river» Limaia became «the River of Oblivion» as a result of folk etymology.