Yukon River
- proper noun
- /ˈjuːkɒn ˈrɪvər/
Examples
-
On the Yukon River, he is in the canoe for sometimes 16 hours a day, and he ruminates over his duty as an environmental activist: "Public lands are sacred."
Fiction book (1993) -
By the end of the 36th day, we have covered 800 miles, navigating the Yukon River to where the water plunges into chaos, a place called the Yukon Flats.
Fiction book (1993) -
The canoe glided smoothly along the Yukon River, surrounded by stunning wilderness and wildlife.
-
During the summer, the Yukon River attracts many adventurers who enjoy fishing and rafting.
-
The historic gold rush brought thousands of prospectors to the banks of the Yukon River in the late 1800s.
Synonyms
A large river in northwestern North America that flows from Canada through Alaska to the Bering Sea
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward place-name + noun combination: 'Yukon' (a geographic name) + 'river' (a watercourse), so a learner who knows both constituents will infer it denotes the river associated with Yukon. The pattern (place + generic noun, e.g. River Thames, Río Amazonas) is cross-linguistically common and immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Yukon River gets its name from a native word that may mean 'big river' or 'great river'. The name gives a simple image of a large, important waterway, which fits why we use it today for the long river running from Yukon in Canada to the Bering Sea.