*Walhaz is a reconstructedProto-Germanic word meaning 'foreigner',[1][2] or more specifically 'Roman', 'Romance-speaker' or '(romanized) Celt', and survives in the English words of 'Wales/Welsh'[1][3] and 'Cornwall'.[4] The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the formerRoman Empire, who were largelyromanised and spoke Latin languages (cf.Valland inOld Norse).[1][3] The adjectival form is attested in Old Norsevalskr, meaning 'French';Old High Germanwalhisc, meaning 'Romance';New High Germanwalsch, used inSwitzerland andSouth Tyrol (Walisch) forRomance speakers;DutchWaals 'Walloon';Old Englishwelisċ,wælisċ,wilisċ, meaning 'Brythonic'. The forms of these words imply that they are descended from a Proto-Germanic form*walhiska-.[3]
*Walhaz is aloanword derived from the name of the Celtic tribe which was known to the Romans asVolcae (in the writings ofJulius Caesar) and to the Greeks asΟὐόλκαιOuólkai (Strabo andPtolemy).[2][5] The Volcae tribe occupied territory neighbouring that of the Germanic people and seem to have been referred to by theproto-Germanic name*Walhaz (plural*Walhōz, adjectival form*walhiska-). It is assumed that this term specifically referred to theVolcae, because application ofGrimm's law to that word produces the form*Walh-. Subsequently, this term*Walhōz was applied rather indiscriminately to the southern neighbours of the Germanic people, as evidenced in geographic names such asWalchgau andWalchensee in Bavaria[3] orWalensee in Switzerland. Place names containing the element *walhaz denote communities or enclaves in the Germanic-speaking world where Romance was spoken.[1]
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'. Because of the social position of the British natives, in the West Saxon dialect of Old English it 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.[1]
The wordVlach/Wallachian (and other variants such asVlah, Valah, Valach, Voloh, Blac, Oláh, Vlas, Ilac, Ulah, etc.) is etymologically derived from the ethnonym of aCeltic tribe,[6] adopted intoProto-Germanic *Walhaz, which meant 'stranger', from *Wolkā-[7] (Caesar'sLatin:Volcae,Strabo andPtolemy'sGreek:Ouolkai).[8] ViaLatin, inGothic, as *walhs, theethnonym took on the meaning 'foreigner' or 'Romance-speaker' and later "shepherd', 'nomad'.The term was adopted into Greek asVláhoi orBlachoi (Βλάχοι),Albanianvllah,Slavic asVlah (pl. Vlasi) orVoloh,Hungarian asoláh andolasz, etc.[9][10] The root word was notably adopted in Germanic forWales andWalloon, and in Switzerland forRomansh-speakers (German:Welsch), and in PolandWłochy or in Hungaryolasz became an exonym for Italians. The Slovenian termLahi has also been used to designate Italians.[11] The same name is still used inPolish[12][13] (Włochy, Włosi, włoskie) and Hungarian[14][15] (Olasz, Olaszország) as anexonym for Italy, while in Slovak[16] (Vlach - pl. Vlasi, Valach - pl. Valasi), Czech (Vlachy) and Slovenian[17] (Laško, Láh, Láhinja, laško) it was replaced with the endonymItalia.
Other forms which were recognised by linguists to designate the "Vlachs" are:Blaci, Blauen, Blachi found in Western medieval sources,Balachi,Walati found in Western sources derived from medieval German, while the Germanic population from Transylvania used also the variantsWoloch,Blôch. French sources used mostlyValaques while the medievalSong of Roland usedBlos. In English and in modern German the formsWallachians, Walachen appear, respectively. In the Balkan Peninsula various names such asRumer, Tzintzars, Morlachs, Maurovlachs, Armâns, Cincars, Koutzovlachs were used, while Muslim sources speak ofUlak, Ilak, Iflak.
