The Ilfis (in the local dialect: []) is a Switzerland, Swiss river in the Canton of Bern, cantons of Bern and Canton of Lucerne, Lucerne. It runs through the Entlebuch District, Entlebuch and upper Emmental regions before joining the
Emme.
Name
The earliest evidence of the name Ilfis comes from the year 1337 where it might refer to either the village of Ilfis, now part of
Langnau im Emmental
Langnau im Emmental is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
It is situated in the upper Emmental between Bern and Lucerne.
It has about 9,000 inhabitants and is the most important ...
, or the farms at Enedilfis, in the municipality of
Escholzmatt. It first appears as a river in a document from 1371, though only a copy from 1531 still exists.
[Erika Waser, ''Luzerner Namenbuch 1,1: Entlebuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Amtes Entlebuch (A–L),'' Comenius, Hitzkirch 1996, , p. 484f.]
The origin of the name is not fully clear. It could be a derivation of ''*Elvis(i)ā'' which comes from the
Gallic color root word ''* elvo-'', meaning brown or yellow and refer to the yellowish tint of the water.
[ It may also come from or be the origin of the name ''Hilfern'' which is often associated with the river.][Erika Waser, ''Luzerner Namenbuch 1,1: Entlebuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Amtes Entlebuch (A–L),'' Comenius, Hitzkirch 1996, , p. 430f.]
References
External links
Hydrological data for the Ilfis from the BAFU website
Rivers of Switzerland
Rivers of the canton of Bern
Rivers of the canton of Lucerne
Tributaries of the Emme
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