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'' *Walhaz'' () is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word, meaning "foreigner", "stranger", "Roman", "Romance-speaker", or "Celtic-speaker". The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe inhabitants of the former Western Roman Empire, who were largely romanised and spoke Latin or Celtic languages. The adjectival form is attested in Old Norse ''valskr'', meaning "French", Old High German ''walhisk'', meaning "Romance", Modern German ''welsch'', used in Switzerland and South Tyrol for Romance-speakers, Dutch ''Waals'' "Walloon", Old English ''welisċ'', ''wælisċ'', ''wilisċ'', meaning "Romano-British", and Modern English ''Welsh''. The form of these words imply that they are descended from a Proto-Germanic form '' *walhiska-''. 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). ==From '' *Walhaz'' to ''welsch''== Walh is almost certainly 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 Οὐόλκαι / ''Ouólkai'' (Strabo and Ptolemy).〔Ringe, Don. "(Inheritance versus lexical borrowing: a case with decisive sound-change evidence )." ''Language Log,'' January 2009.〕 This tribe occupied territory neighbouring that of the Germanic people and seem to have been referred to by the Old Germanic name '' *Walhaz'' (plural '' *Walhôz'', adjectival form '' *walhiska-''). It is assumed that this term specifically referred to the Celtic Volcae, because application of the first Germanic sound change to that word produces the form '' *Walh-''. Subsequently, this term ''Walhôz'' was applied rather indiscriminately to the southern neighbours of the Germanic people, as evidenced in geographic names such as Walchgau and Walchensee in Bavaria.〔 These southern neighbours, however, were then already completely Romanised. Thus, Germanic speakers generalised this name first to all Celts, and later to 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 Romance speakers. Today, ''Welsch'' is not in standard German usage except in Switzerland. This term is used there not only in a historical context, but also as a somewhat pejorative word to describe Swiss speakers of Italian and French. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「walhaz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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