*Walhaz Explained

• Walhaz is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word meaning 'foreigner',^[1] or more specifically 'Roman', 'Romance-speaker' or '(romanized) Celt', and survives in the English words of 'Wales/Welsh'^[2] and 'Cornwall.'^[3] The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the former Roman Empire, who were largely romanised and spoke Latin languages (cf. Valland in Old Norse). The adjectival form is attested in Old Norse Norse, Old: valskr, meaning 'French'; Old High German German, Old High (ca.750-1050);: walhisc, meaning 'Romance'; New High German German: welsch, used in Switzerland and South Tyrol for Romance speakers; Dutch Dutch; Flemish: Waals 'Walloon'; Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: welisċ, English, Old (ca.450-1100);: wælisċ, English, Old (ca.450-1100);: wilisċ, meaning 'Brythonic'. The forms of these words imply that they are descended from a Proto-Germanic form *walhiska-.^[4]

From *Walhaz to welsch

is a loanword derived from the name of the Celtic tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae (in the writings of Julius Caesar) and to the Greeks as (Strabo and Ptolemy).^[5] The Volcae tribe occupied territory neighbouring that of the Germanic people and seem to have been referred to by the proto-Germanic name (plural, adjectival form). It is assumed that this term specifically referred to the Volcae, because application of Grimm's law to that word produces the form . Subsequently, this term was applied rather indiscriminately to the southern neighbours of the Germanic people, as evidenced in geographic names such as Walchgau and Walchensee in Bavaria.^[4] Place names containing the element *walhaz denote communities or enclaves in the Germanic-speaking world where Romance was spoken.

In Old English, *:walhaz developed into wealh, retaining the inherited meaning ‘a foreigner, more particularly a pre-Anglo-Saxon inhabitant of Britain who spoke Celtic or Latin or both’. It also came to imply the 'social position of the British natives that in the West Saxon dialect of Old English' came to mean ‘(British) slave’. The old feminine derivative of *walhaz, Old English wiln < *wielen < * wealh-in-, even exclusively means ‘a female slave’ and is likewise concentrated in the Saxon south of England.

From *Walhaz to Vlach

See main article: Vlachs. From the Germanic and Slavic peoples the term passed to other groups, such as the Hungarians (referring to Vlachs, generally used for Romanians;, referring to Italians), Turks and Byzantines and was used for all Latin people of the Balkans.^[6]

See also

• Vlachs, also known as Wallachs
• Theodiscus
• Names of the Celts

Notes and References

1. Book: Ringe, Don . Germanic Languages Pack . Oxford University Press . 2006 . 296.
2. Book: Schrijver, Peter . Language Contact And The Origins Of The Germanic Languages . 20.
3. Web site: 6 August 2009 . Overview of Cornish History . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140311164902/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=8994 . 11 March 2014 . 12 September 2013 . Cornwall Council.
4. Web site: Arend Quak . 2005 . Van Ad Welschen naar Ad Waalsen of toch maar niet? . 7 January 2015 . nl . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206215140/http://cf.hum.uva.nl/dsp/nederlandsetaalkunde/NTKonderzoek-quak.pdf . 6 February 2012 . dmy-all .
5. Ringe, Don. "Inheritance versus lexical borrowing: a case with decisive sound-change evidence." Language Log, January 2009.
6. Decadence, Rome and Romania, the Emperors Who Weren't, and Other Reflections on Roman History. The Proceedings of the Friesian School. Kelley L. Ross. 2003. Note: The Vlach Connection. 13 January 2008.