River x is the standard form (river ganges, river thames, river nile) it’s only really when a river is named after an existing place that it’s different (LA river, Chicago river), where the location is used as an adjective. The same applies to oceans and seas generally, where they’re named relative to an existing place or concept and so the adjective comes before, rather than the name coming after.
Aren’t those cities named after their respective rivers, though? I could be wrong about those two, but in all other cases I can think of, that doesn’t apply. Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio are all named after rivers and we still use the “x River” format for those rivers.
It seems like it might be more of a convention for English speakers in the eastern vs western hemisphere to me.
The Ganges, Nile, Danube, Seine, Volga, etc. are mostly just referred to by those names alone; for example, the Wikipedia articles for those rivers do not have the word “River” in their titles.
American rivers are mostly “X River” even when they’re not named for a place, like the Snake River or Rogue River in Oregon. (Both of which are names translated from French, and originally referred to derogatory impressions of the local Native Americans.)
Rivers in Britain and Ireland are usually “River X”, not “X River” — like the Thames, Severn, Clyde, Shannon, Liffey, or Lee. (This is the same word order used in the Gaelic languages.)
The names of oceans are adjectives: Pacific, Atlantic (“of Atlas”), Indian, Arctic (“of the Bear [constellation]”), Southern.
River x is the standard form (river ganges, river thames, river nile) it’s only really when a river is named after an existing place that it’s different (LA river, Chicago river), where the location is used as an adjective. The same applies to oceans and seas generally, where they’re named relative to an existing place or concept and so the adjective comes before, rather than the name coming after.
Aren’t those cities named after their respective rivers, though? I could be wrong about those two, but in all other cases I can think of, that doesn’t apply. Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio are all named after rivers and we still use the “x River” format for those rivers.
It seems like it might be more of a convention for English speakers in the eastern vs western hemisphere to me.
The Ganges, Nile, Danube, Seine, Volga, etc. are mostly just referred to by those names alone; for example, the Wikipedia articles for those rivers do not have the word “River” in their titles.
American rivers are mostly “X River” even when they’re not named for a place, like the Snake River or Rogue River in Oregon. (Both of which are names translated from French, and originally referred to derogatory impressions of the local Native Americans.)
Rivers in Britain and Ireland are usually “River X”, not “X River” — like the Thames, Severn, Clyde, Shannon, Liffey, or Lee. (This is the same word order used in the Gaelic languages.)
The names of oceans are adjectives: Pacific, Atlantic (“of Atlas”), Indian, Arctic (“of the Bear [constellation]”), Southern.