Lietauka

Infobox River | river_name = Lietauka River, Lietava River


caption =
origin = Upninkai surroundings
mouth = Neris River
basin_countries = Lithuania
length = 11 km
elevation =
discharge =
watershed =

Lietava, Lietauka or Letauka is a rivulet in Lithuania that is believed to have given Lithuania its name. [cite web|url=http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w5_show?p_r=4056&p_k=2&p_rp=N&p_dr=N&p_d=49322| title=Lithuania's name |publisher=Office of the Seimas |accessdate=2007-01-24] 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. [lt icon cite journal |last=Baranauskas |first=Tomas |authorlink=Tomas Baranauskas |year=2002 |month=February |title=Prie Lietuvos vardo ištakų |journal=Voruta |volume=4 |issue=502 |url=http://www.voruta.lt/article.php?article=81&showtype=archive| accessdate=2007-01-24] 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)cite encyclopedia | editor = Simas Sužiedėlis | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia Lituanica | title = Lietuva | year = 1970-1978 | publisher = Juozas Kapočius | volume = III | location = Boston, Massachusetts | id = LCC|74-114275 | pages = 336-337 ] , of the root derived from the Proto-Indo-European *"leyǝ-". [ [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?single=1&basename=/data/ie/piet&text_number=++2322&root=config Indo-European Etymology] ]

Since many names in the Indo-European languages are derived from hydronyms, 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.

References

ee also

* Name of Lithuania
* Rivers of Lithuania