*walh

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *walh "foreigner, non-Germanic person" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“Celt, foreigner”),^[1][2] which Köbler cites as *walha- or *walaha-.^[3] Green explains the Germanic word as a loan of the name of the Celtic tribe of the Latin Volcae; its χ from k shows that it was borrowed before the First Sound Shift, so that the contact probably dates from before the 3rd century BC.^[4] Holthausen and Gamillscheg also derive it from the tribal name.^[5][6]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem.^[2][7]

Evidence

The word is attested as Old English wealh^[5] and Old High German walah, recorded in glosses where it renders Latin Latinus and Romanus, and in the phrase Walaho lant for Gallia.^[7] Old Saxon has it only in personal names such as ⟨Walhbert⟩.^[8] The Pactus legis Salicae has the Malberg gloss ⟨uualaleodi⟩ for the wergild of a Roman, which Köbler enters as Old Dutch walahleodi.^[9] Gamillscheg derives French Gaule (“Gaul”) from Frankish *walha (“the Welsh, the Romance speakers”), which translates Latin Galli in the Kassel glosses.^[6]

Green finds the word in West Germanic but not in Gothic, where it is also absent from personal names; he uses this to place the Volcae of the time of contact no further east than the later East Germanic territory.^[10]

Meanings

1. foreigner, non-Germanic person: a Celt, later also a Roman^[1][6]

Gamillscheg describes the word as a name for the Celts that was later transferred to the Romance peoples, especially the Italians and French.^[6] Old English also used it for "slave" and for "Briton, Welshman",^[5] and Old High German for "Roman".^[7]

Derivatives

• *walhisk "foreign, non-Germanic", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[11] it is attested as Old English wielisc (“foreign, Welsh, unfree”).^[12] Gamillscheg finds Frankish *walhisk (“Welsh”) in Old French galois (“Welsh; merry”) and in its feminine in the phrase ⟨lieue galesche⟩ "Welsh league".^[6]
• *Walhaland "land of the foreigners", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Old High German has the phrase Walaho lant for Gaul.^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: wealh (“foreigner, slave, Briton, Welshman”)^[5]
• Old Dutch: only in the Malberg compound walahleodi (“wergild for a Roman”)^[9]
• Old High German: walah (“foreigner, Roman, non-German”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *walh
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wealh
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *Walaha-
4. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 162
5. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wealh
6. ^ a b c d e Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 500
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. walah
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. walh
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. walahleodi
10. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 163
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *walhisk
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wíelisc
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *Walhaland