this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
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"And what's this? The 'Avon' River? Write that down, Gaius." (infosec.pub)
submitted 4 months ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/roughromanmemes@piefed.social
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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 5 points 4 months ago

Kinda.

The catch here is, while the primary distinction in Indo-European languages is between "salty water" vs. "non-salty water" (e.g. "sea" vs. "river", or Spanish "mar" vs. "río"), in Tupian languages it's about the size: if it's big (like the sea or a big river) it's "para[nã]", if it's small it's simply "y" (lit. "water"). And the Paraguay doesn't lead directly into the sea, but another river (Rio Paraná - and yes, the name is simply "river", so... "River River").

So with all that context into account, if that etymology is correct, "Río Paraguay" is:

  • río - river, Spanish
  • para - large river or sea; in this case the Paraná river
  • gua - leading to
  • y - water or small river; in this case the Paraguay river itself

"River Small-River-Leading-to-Big-River". Yup, three times.

(Granted, nowadays Paraguayan Guaraní does have the word ysyry, but it means simply "flowing water". It might be due to Spanish interference, I don't recall toponyms using it.)