* Rivet & Smith, p. 260  : 

SOURCE

- Ravenna 108₂₈ (= R&C 245) : AVENTIO 

It is likely that Ravenna's form in -o represents the oblique case of a name whose nominative is in -us, second declension masculine, even though in the river-list of the Cosmography this is the sole name in -o; it is paralleled by the names of rivers mistakenly included in the lists of habitation-names, such as Eltabo 105₄₆ (Fl. Tavus) and Rumabo 107₄₇ (Flum Abus). Aventius is the form demanded by the modern derivative (below). The name as given by Ravenna can hardly be a third-declension nominative, despite appearances; there are very few nominatives in this text. Dillemann's wish (p. 65) to correct Aventio or to make it a version of Ptolemy's Louentinon (= Luentinum) cannot be accepted; for this, he postulates a misreading of Greek initial L as A, but there is no evidence elsewhere of this kind of use of a Greek source for Britain.

DERIVATION. This is not really a difficult name as it has seemed to some. We are helped by the fact that it survives as the Welsh river-name Ewenni (var.: Ewenydd). Williams discusses and rejects several suggestions, including that of Holder I. 312 of a root * auentos 'just, right ' (a possibility retained by Dottin for Gaulish *auento- perhaps with this sense). He did not favour a connection with the numerous Continental water-names assembled by Pokorny 78 and others (see e.g.Pokorny in VR, X (1948-49), 225-26; Nicolaisen in BZN, VIII (1957), 233), including Avara, Avens, Aventia > Avenza (Etruria, Italy), Aventia > Avance (four names in France and one in Switzerland), Aventicum, Avançon, etc., on the ground that Aventia would give Welsh *Eweint or *Awenedd but not the surviving Ewenni; this, with its -i or -ydd, demands original *-ios (masculine) or *-ion (neuter). As we have argued above, Ravenna's Aventio does indeed stand for Romano-British Aventius, British *Auentios, so there is no problem of form. Williams concludes that Aventia is best related to the root of Latin aveo, Welsh ewyll-ys 'will, wish'. However, this is a most unlikely base for a river-name, and Pokorny's Continental names in their widespread and coherent group are surely not to be dismissed. Pokorny cites the root as *au(e) *auent- with meanings 'benetzen, befeuchten, flieBen', and gives ample cognates in languages other than Celtic which justify such meanings, suggesting that the basic Aventia was perhaps a spring goddess. As for the ending of the British name, Jackson LHEB 351 thinks it may originally have had an *-ison suffix, giving *-ion in British; Pokorny himself suggests original *Avantisa (> Aventia) > Welsh Ewenni, but this overlooks the problem to which Williams drew attention.

IDENTIFICATION. The river Ewenni, Glamorgan.

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* M.N BOUILLET : Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie. Librairie Hachette et Cie. Paris. 1863.

* Eilert EKWALL : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1936 - 1980.

* John BARTHOLOMEW & Son Ltd : Half Inch Map Series. South Wales. N° 12. 1971

* Petit Larousse Illustré. Librairie Larousse. 1979.

* A.L.F RIVET & Colin SMITH : The Place-names of Roman Britain. Batsford Ltd. London. 1979-1982.

* A.D MILLS : Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. 1991 - 2003

Liens électroniques des sites Internet traitant de la rivière Ewenni / Aventius :  

* forum du site Marikavel : Academia Celtica

hast buan, ma mignonig vas vite, mon petit ami

go fast, my little friend