Walha is an ancient Germanic word, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger" ("welsh"), derived from the Indo-European root *al-1 meaning "other", "alien", which are both cognates, or a sense of "beyond"; whence such words across the Indo-European spectrum referring to otherness (alien, outré, ulterior, else, other, alias, Gk. allo, Romance demonstratives like quale, etc.). It is attested in the Roman Iron Age Tjurkö Bracteate inscription as walhakurne, probably "welsh crown" for "Roman coin", i.e. "bracteate". The term was used by the ancient Germanic peoples to describe the inhabitants of the former Roman Empire, which were largely romanised and spoke Latin or Celtic languages. Today in the German language, Welsche refers to Latin (or Romanic) peoples: the Italians in particular, but also the French and the group in general. There is a street in Regensburg named Wallengasse, once inhabited by Italian merchants.
In modern Dutch, allochtoon means literally "from another country", and is derived from the Greek allo. Autochtoon (autochthonous) is its antonym.
Several names of non-Germanic European regions are derived from the word walh:
- Walachia (see also Vlach and Etymology of Vlach)
- Wales, Welsh
- Cornwall
- 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- In German Welsch or Walsch, outdated for "Romanic", and still in use in Swiss German for Romands.
- the Belgian region of Wallonia.
- In the Finnish language, the word 'Velho' means a mysterious wizard.
- A Celtic tribe called the Volcae
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