Editing River Thames (section)

===Brittonic origin===
[[File:Le Pilier des Nautes 01.JPG|right|thumb|180px|Image of the deity [[Esus|Æsus]] on the [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] ''"[[Pillar of the Boatmen]]"'' ]]
[[File:Father Thames, St John's Lock, Lechlade.jpg|thumb|A statue of Old Father Thames by [[Raffaelle Monti]] at [[St John's Lock]], Lechlade]]

According to Mallory and Adams, the Thames, from [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|Temese}}, is derived from the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] name for the river, ''Tamesas'' (from the hypothesised *''tamēssa''),<ref name=MalloryAdams147>Mallory, J. P. and D. Q. Adams (1947). ''The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture''. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn. p. 147.</ref> recorded in Latin as {{lang|la|Tamesis}} and yielding modern Welsh {{lang|cy|Tafwys}} "Thames".

<!-- ***** Whilst these statements are plausible they really need to be verified. *****
The Latin name can be broken down into '' " Tam..esis " ''; the second element is the origin of the name of [[The Isis]] 
{{efn| Some historians suggest the name ''Isis'' is nothing more than a truncation of ''Tamesis'', the Latin name for the ''Thames''. }}
and may be a reference to the [[Celtic Britons| Brittonic]] [[deity]] [[Esus| Æsus]].
{{efn| The deity [[Esus| Æsus]] (also ''Esus'', ''Hesus'') is known from two [[monument| monumental statues]], one of which is the [[Gallo-Roman culture| Gallo-Roman]] statue [[Pillar of the Boatmen| '' " Pillar of the Boatmen " '']]. Æsus is shown standing beside a [[Willow| willow tree]], which he is cutting down with an axe.}}
{{efn| The [[wikt:Esino|''Esino river'']] in the [[Marche]] region of Italy might have a similar [[etymology]]. See WiKtionary <[[wikt:Aesis|''Aesis'']] > " ...river Esino " }}
{{efn| ''Brittonic Language'' *Ẹ:s (Alan James) . . . Early Celtic *ēs- or *ais- > Br *ẹ:s-; Latinised as Esus, Æsus, Hesus.{{sfn|James|2020|p=132}} }}
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The name element ''Tam'' may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other [[cognate]]s such as Slavic темно ([[Proto-Slavic]] *''tĭmĭnŭ''), [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''tamsi'' "dark", [[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''tumsa'' "darkness", [[Sanskrit]] ''[[tamas (philosophy)|tamas]]'' and Welsh ''tywyll'' "darkness" and [[Middle Irish]] ''teimen'' "dark grey".<ref name=MalloryAdams147 />{{efn| Chapter 5: ''The Celtic Element'' (P. H. Reaney) . . . The name is considered to be related to the [[Sanskrit]] ''Tamasa'' ("dark water"), the name of a tributary{{Efn|See [[Tamsa River]]}} of the River Ganges.{{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}}}} The origin is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the [[River Tamar]] at the border of [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], several [[River Tame (disambiguation)|rivers named Tame]] in [[the Midlands]] and [[North Yorkshire]], the [[River Tavy|Tavy]] on [[Dartmoor]], the [[River Team|Team]] of the North East, the [[River Teifi|Teifi]] and [[River Teme|Teme]] of [[Wales]], the [[River Teviot|Teviot]] in the [[Scottish Borders]] and a Thames tributary, the [[River Thame|Thame]].

[[Kenneth H. Jackson]] proposed that the name of the Thames is not [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] (and of unknown meaning),<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth H |author-link=Kenneth H. Jackson |year=1955 |title=The Pictish Language}} in {{cite book |editor=F. T. Wainright |title=The Problem of the Picts |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Nelson |pages=129–166}}</ref> while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the [[British people|Britons]] and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root ''*tā-'', 'melt'.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kitson |first=Peter R. |year=1996 |title=British and European River Names' |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=73–118 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1996.tb01178.x}}</ref>