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The Volga () is the longest river in Europe; it is also Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and watershed. It flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are in the Volga's watershed (drainage basin). Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is often referred to as Волга-матушка ''Volga-Matushka'' (Mother Volga) in Russian literature and folklore. ==Nomenclature== The Russian hydronym ''Volga'' (') derives from Proto-Slavic *''vòlga'' "wetness, moisture", which is preserved in many Slavic languages, including Ukrainian ''volóha'' (''воло́га'') "moisture", Russian ''vlaga'' (''влага'') "moisture", Bulgarian ''vlaga'' (''влага'') "moisture", Czech ''vláha'' "dampness", Serbo-Croatian ''vlȁga'' "moisture", and Slovene ''vlaga'' "moisture" among others.〔See Max Vasmer's dictionary under "Волга".〕 The Slavic name is a loan translation of earlier Scythian ''Rā'' () "Volga",〔J.P. Mallory & D.Q. Adams, ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'', s.v. "dew" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 158-9.〕 literally "wetness", cognate with Avestan ''Raŋhā'' "mythical stream" (also compare the derivation Sogdian ''r’k'' "vein, blood vessel" ( *''raha-ka''),〔Michiel de Vaan, ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italian Languages'', s.v. "rōs, rōris" (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 526-7.〕 Persian رگ ''rag'' "vein"〔 Nourai, Ali. 2013. An Etymological Dictionary of Persian, English and Other Indo-European Languages. Index of Words in Different Languages Vol. 1 Vol. 1. p.130.〕) and Sanskrit ''rasā́-'' "liquid, juice; mythical river".〔Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. ''Les Sarmates : Amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube''. Paris: Editions Errance, 2002.〕 The Scythian name survives in modern Mordvin ''Rav'' (''Рав'') "Volga". The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as ''Itil'' or ''Atil'' "big river". In modern Turkic languages, the Volga is known as ''İdel'' (Идел) in Tatar, Атăл (''Atăl'') in Chuvash, ''Idhel'' in Bashkir, ''Edil'' in Kazakh, and ''İdil'' in Turkish. The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama River. Thus, a left tributary to the Kama River was named the ''Aq Itil'' "White Itil" which unites with the ''Kara Itil'' "Black Itil" at the modern city of Ufa. The name Indyl (Indɨl) is used in Adyge (Cherkess) language. Among Asians the river was known by its other Turkic name ''Sarı-su'' "yellow water", but the Oirats also used their own name: ''Ijil mörön'' "adaptation river". Presently the Mari, another Uralic group, call the river Юл (''Jul''), meaning "way" in Tatar. Formerly, they called the river ''Volgydo'', a borrowing from Old Russian. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Volga River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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