Neris

The reasons for the dual naming of the river as Neris by the Lithuanians and Viliya (formerly Velja, meaning "big, great" in Slavic) by the Slavs are complex. Even in Vilnius, there are toponyms including both names, e. g. Neris remains in the riverside names of Paneriai and Paneriškės while Velja is a part of the name Valakampiai, which means "an angle of Velja" in Lithuanian.Vykintas Vaitkevičius [http://www.neriesparkas.lt/byla.php?id=17 Mysterious Neris], Šiaurės Atėnai. 2005-07-23 nr. 758 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722151803/http://www.neriesparkas.lt/byla.php?id=17 |date=July 22, 2011 }} In Kaunas, a part of the city by the Neris river, that was formerly a separate town, is also named Vilijampolė (Vilija + polis, that means "polis by Vilija").

Although it has been suggested that Neris is the primeval name of the river, while the name Viliya is of secondary extraction, the dual naming most probably emerged from the confluence of the rivers Neris (now known as Narač River, leaving Lake Narač) and Velja, in the historical Slavic/Baltic borderland, each ethnos choosing their own name for the river starting at the confluence. It is moreover evidenced by the fact that the name Neris was never used to name the river Velja up to this confluence. Therefore, it has been proposed that the Narač River had in fact been considered the upper reaches of Neris by the Balts in ancient times.S. Kolupaila, Narutis ir Neris, Kosmos, 1940, Nr. 1/3, p. 52

Some linguists, however, point to the fact, that Viliya in it upper part is not "big" or "great" at all and the name cognates with Lithuanian words velnias and vėlė. What is more, all the territory of upper Neris before the 12th c. was inhabited by the Balts, the archaeological {{ill|East Lithuanian Barrow Culture|lt|Rytų Lietuvos pilkapių kultūra}}.

The name Neris is of Baltic origin, a cognate of the Lithuanian nerti generally meaning "to dive, swim downstream" as well as "to net, crochet". It is likely that the name had a more general meaning of "flow"{{cite book | last = Zinkevičius | first = Zigmas | author-link = Zigmas Zinkevičius | title = Senosios Lietuvos valstybės vardynas | publisher = Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas | year = 2007 | location = Vilnius | pages = 45 | isbn = 978-5-420-01606-0 }} or particularly "swift and swirling flow"V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, L-P, V., 1996, t. 3, p. 178-179 in early times.

Etymologically, the name is one of a class of hydronyms, widespread in the modern and prehistoric Baltic ranges; e.g., Lithuanian Narotis, Narasa (rivers), Narutis (lake), Old Prussian Narus, Nara near Moscow. These are related to Lithuanian narus, "deep", and nerti, "to dive".

More remote connections are obscure, although the root is believed to be Indo-European. There are a number of possibilities:

• Pokorny's 2nd *ner-, "under" (Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, pp765–766);
• Derksen's *{{lang|mis|nerH-}}, o-grade *{{lang|mis|norH-}} (Slavic Inherited Lexicon);
• A relation to the Greek god Nereus, which may be from *snau-, "to give milk to", in the sense of "flow" (Partridge, Origins (1983)).
• Another relationship of "Neris" with the Sanskrit word "Neer"/"Naar" which means water.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

File:Neris Baseino plotas.png, the Šventoji]]

The total watershed area is {{convert|25100|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, {{convert|10920|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} of which are in Belarus.

The river is called Vilija in Belarus. Belarus's largest reservoir, Vileyka Reservoir, is located by Vilija, near the Vileyka city.

• Narač
• Servač
• Strača

• Ilija
• Uša
• Ašmianka

The watershed within Lithuania is {{convert|13849|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}[http://vanduo.gamta.lt/cms/index?rubricId=d55a80cd-f222-4c28-90d9-656080f83834 Neries mažųjų intakų (su Nerimi) pabaseinis] (Basin small tributaries of Neris (including Neris))

• Verkė
• Vilnia
• Vokė
• Bražuolė
• Dūkšta
• Musė
• Laukysta
• Lomena
• Šventoji
• Lokys
• Šešuva
• Saidė

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• {{Commons category-inline|Neris}}

{{Tributaries of the Neman}}

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Category:Neris basin

Category:Rivers of Grodno region

Category:Rivers of Minsk region

Category:Rivers of Lithuania

Category:International rivers of Europe

Category:Belarus–Lithuania border

Category:Paneriai

Category:Rivers of Belarus