Walhaz

Brass replica of the Tjurkö Bracteate showing the attestation of the name Walhaz

Walhaz (ᚹᚨᛚᚺᚨᛉ) is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word, meaning "foreigner", "stranger", "Roman", "Romance-speaker", or "Celtic-speaker". The adjective derived from this word can be found in German: welsch, Old High German walhisk, meaning "Romance", in Old English welisċ, wælisċ, wilisċ, meaning "Romano-British" and in Old Norse as valskr, meaning "French". Thus it will be derived from an Proto-Germanic form such as *walhiska-.^[1]

It is attested in the Roman Iron Age Tjurkö Bracteate inscription as walhakurne "Roman/Gallic grain", apparently a kenning for "gold" (referring to the "bracteate" itself). The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the former Roman Empire, who were largely romanised and spoke Latin or Celtic languages.

From *Walhaz to welsch

Walh is probably derived from the name of the tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae (in the writings of Julius Caesar) and to the Greeks as Ouólkai (Strabo and Ptolemy).^[2] With the Old Germanic name *Walhaz, plural *Walhôz, adjectival form *walhiska-, this neighbouring people of the Germanic people were meant some centuries before Christ. It is assumed that this term specifically referred to the Celtic Volcae, because by a precise application of the first Germanic sound change the exact Germanic equivalent *Walh- would have come out. Subsequently, this term Walhôz has rather indiscriminately been applied to the southern neighbours of the Germanic people, which is shown in geographic names such as Walchgau and Walchensee in Bavaria.^[1] These southern neighbours, however, were then already completely romanised. Thus, by Germanic speakers this name was generalized first onto all Celts, and later onto all Romans. The Old High German Walh became Walch in Middle High German, and adjectival OHG walhisk became MHG welsch, e.g. in the Romance of Alexander by Rudolf von Ems-–resulting in Welsche in Early New High German and Modern German as the exonym for all Romanic speakers.

Today, Welsch is no standard German usage except in Switzerland. This term is not only historical but also a more sophisticated and a little pejorative word to describe a Frenchman or an Italian.

Toponyms and exonyms

Numerous names of non-Germanic, and in particular Romance-speaking, European regions derive from the word Walh, in particular the exonyms

• Walachia and Vlachs - "Romanians"

Consider the following terms historically present in several Central and Eastern European, and other neighbouring languages:

• in Polish: Włochy, the name of Italy, and historical Wołochowie - Romanians.
• in Hungarian: "Oláh", referring to Romanians, "Vlachok" referring to Romanians/Vlachs, generally; "Olasz", referring to Italians.
• in Serbo-Croatian: Vlah (влах) - to Romanians or other Romanian/Vlach subgroup.
• in Ukrainian: Voloh (волох) - to Romanians.
• in Russian: Valah (валах) - to Romanians.
• in Greek: Vlahi/Vlakhi (Βλάχοι) - to Romanians or other Romanian/Vlach subgroup (e.g. Macedo-Romanians, Megleno-Romanians, etc.)
• in German: Vlachen or Walachen - to Romanians of other Romanian/Vlach subgroups; Wallach - a Romanian horse, i.e. a horse that has been gelded, as the Romanians gelded their war horses for practical reasons.
• in Czech and Slovak: Valach - to Romanians or to their Slavic-speaking descendants inhabiting Moravian Wallachia; a gelded horse.
• in Turkish: Ulah - to Romanians or other Romanian/Vlach subgroup.
• In Slovene: Laški, archaic name referring to Italians; it is also the name of several settlements in Slovenia, like Laško near Celje, or Laški Rovt near Bohinj. Laško is also the old Slovene name for the area around Monfalcone and Ronchi in Italy, on the border with Slovenia. These names are linked to the presence of larger nuclei of Romance-speaking populations at the time where the Slavs settled the area in the 6th century.

In Western European languages:

• in English:
  • Wales, Welsh (with the prefix Wal-)
  • Cornwall (with the suffix -wall)
  • The names of many towns and villages throughout the North and West of England such as Walsden in West Yorkshire.
  • In English usage the words Gaul and Gaulish are used synonymously with Latin Gallia, Gallus and Gallicus. However the similarity of the names is probably accidental: the English words are borrowed from French Gaule and Gaulois, which appear to have been borrowed themselves from walha-. Germanic w is regularly rendered with French gu / g (cf. guerre = war, garder = ward), and the diphthong au is the regular outcome of al before a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux). Gaule or Gaulle can hardly be derived from Latin Gallia, since g would become j before a (cf. gamba > jambe), the regular outcome of Latin Gallia would have been *Jaille in French.^[3][4] This also applies to the French name for Wales, which is le pays de Galles.
  • waledich or wallditch, (weahl + ditch) was the pre-Victorian name of Avebury stone circle, in Avebury, Wiltshire ^[5]
  • Walnut, from Old English walhnutu (wealh+ hnutu) meaning "Roman nut", as it was introduced from Gallia ("Gaul") and Italy.^[6]
  • Galwalas, Old English name for people of Gaul or France

• Numerous attestations in German:
  • in village names ending in -walchen, such as Straßwalchen or Seewalchen, mostly located in the Salzkammergut region and indicating Roman settlement
  • In German Welsch or Walsch, outdated for "Romanic", and still in use in Swiss Standard German for Romands.
  • in numerous placenames, for instance Walensee and Walenstadt, as well as Welschbern and Welschtirol (now almost always Verona and Trentino), also in:
    • Welschbillig, in the Moselle valley, where Moselle romanic was spoken;
    • Welschen Ennest (community of Kirchhundem, district Olpe, Sauerland);
    • Welschenrohr in the Swiss canton of Solothurn;
    • Welschensteinach in the district Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg;
  • in several German exonyms like: Welschkohl, Welschkorn, Welschkraut ^[7]
  • The walnut was originally a Welsh nut, i.e. it came through France and/or Italy to Germanic speakers (German: Walnuss, Dutch Okkernoot or Walnoot, Danish Valnød, Swedish Valnöt)
  • There is a street in Regensburg named Wahlenstrasse, seemingly once inhabited by Italian merchants. In other German places like Duisburg one can find a Welschengasse, or an Am Welschenkamp, referring to French speaking inhabitants ^[7]
  • In Southern Austria, "welsch" is a prefix that generally means Italian. E.g. the wine variety "welschriesling", common in Styria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary (actually not related to the white riesling variety). It is often used as a rather sweeping, pejorative word for the nearest people of Latin/romanic origin (the remaining neighbours of Austria being "Tschuschen" - Slavs - and "Piefke" (Germans).
  • Kauderwelsch (Danish: kaudervælsk, Norwegian: kaudervelsk, Dutch: koeterwaals) is a German word for gibberish and derives from the Rhaetoroman dialect from Chur in Graubünden in Switzerland.
  • Welche, the French spelling of Welsch, refers to a Romance dialect in historically German-speaking Alsace
  • Rotwelsch is the language of traveller communities in Germany.

→ See also http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsche

• In Dutch:
  • The Belgian region of Wallonia, cf. Dutch Waals ("Walloon"), Walenland.

• In Romance languages and Irish, walhaz was borrowed and altered by changing the initial w to g (cf. English "war", Italian/Spanish guerra, English "William" vs. French Guillaume, Spanish Guillermo, or even English "ward" vs. "guard", borrowed into English from French), resulting in gall:
  • French gallois, Italian gallese, "Welsh".
  • The traditional Irish term Galltacht, "region of Ireland where a foreign language is spoken" (in this case, English), as opposed to the Gaeltacht, where Irish is spoken.

Pennsylvania Dutch

In Pennsylvania German language, "Welsch" generally means "strange" as well as "Welsh," and is sometimes, although with a more restricted meaning, compounded with other words. For example, the words in Pennsylvania German for "turkey" is "Welschhaahne" and "Welschhinkel," which literally mean "French (or Romanic) chicken". "Welschkann" is the word for maize and literally translates to "French (or Romanic) grain." The verb "welsche" means "to jabber."

Yiddish

The Yiddish term "Velsh" or "Veilish" is used of Jews of Spanish and Italian origins, and in particular of their Hebrew script. Similarly the corresponding Hebrew root "la'az" or "lo'ez", literally meaning "foreign", is used of the Judeo-Italian languages and of vocabulary of Romance origin in Yiddish. In the Talmudic commentaries of Rashi and the Tosafists, the translations of individual words into Old French are known as lo'azim.

Welsch/Walsch in family names

The element Wels(c)h/Wals(c)h also shows up in family names:

• in Dutch:
  • De Waal, De Waele, Waelhens, Swalen, Swelsen;^[7] but not van der Waals (< river or water name Waal).^[7]
• in English:
  • Welsh, Welch, Walsh, Walch, Whale, Wallace,^[8] Wallis, Waugh^[9]
• in German:
  • Welsch, Welschen, Welzen,^[7] Welches, Wälsch, Walech, Walch, Wahl, Wahle, Wahlen, Wahlens, Wahlich, Wälke (in part indirectly through forenames such as Walcho),^[10] '
• in Greek:
  • Vlachos, Vlachou
• in Hungarian:
  • Oláh
• Jewish-Polish:
  • Bloch, a Jewish family name, that derives from Polish Włochy
• in Polish:
  • Włoch, Wołoch, Wołos, Wołoszyn, Wołoszek, Wołoszczak, Wołoszczuk, Bołoch, Bołoz
• in Romanian
  • Olah, Olahu, Valahu
• Slavic:
  • Vlach, Vlah (cyr. Влах) (forename, also for Blaise)

Historic persons:

• Geremia da Valacchia (Jon Stoika, 1556–1625), b. in Tzazo, Romania, beatified in 1983
• hr:Sveti Vlaho, Saint Blaise, patron saint of Dubrovnik^{[11][citation needed]}, an Armenian martyr.
• Nicolaus Olahus (1493–1568) Archbishop of Esztergom

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Arend Quak 2005: "Van Ad Welschen naar Ad Waalsen of toch maar niet?", in: [1] (nl)
2. ^ Ringe, Don. "Inheritance versus lexical borrowing: a case with decisive sound-change evidence." Language Log, January 2009.
3. ^ Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (OUP 1966), p. 391.
4. ^ Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique et historique (Larousse 1990), p. 336.
5. ^ "Avebury Concise History". Wiltshire County Council. http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getconcise.php?id=11. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
6. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=walnut
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} Ad Welschen: 'Herkomst en geschiedenis van de familie Welschen en de geografische verspreiding van deze familienaam.' part II, in: Limburgs Tijdschrift voor Genealogie 30 (2002), 68-81; separate bibliography in: Limburgs Tijdschrift voor Genealogie 31 (2003), 34-35 (nl).
8. ^ Internet Surname Database
9. ^ Internet Surname Database
10. ^ Konrad Kunze: dtv-Atlas Namenkunde, dtv 2004, p. 89, ISBN 3-423-03266-9
11. ^ Sveti Vlaho i Dubrovnik

See also

• Theodiscus
• Etymology of Vlach
• Names of the Celts

• Welsch, Walsch
• Vlach
• Wallach