Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/walhaz

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Walhaz

Wikipedia

From earlier *wólkos, from the name of a Celtic tribe, the Volcae. Historically the tribe's name has been linked to an animal, possibly Proto-Celtic *wolkos (“hawk”), or alternatively (but less likely) Proto-Celtic *ulkʷos (“wolf”), in turn from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos, as Caesar described the Celts having fought with huge dogs.

For the first possibility, cf. the personal name Gaulish Catuvolcus and Welsh cadwalch (“hero, champion, warrior”, literally “battle-hawk”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɑl.xɑz/

*walhaz m

1. a foreigner, a non-Germanic, specifically

   Coordinate term: *winidaz

   1. (early) a Celt, a Celtic-speaker
   2. (later) a Roman, a speaker of Latin (or Romance)

• The etymology suggests that this word originally referred to Celts, even though in most attested languages its sense is consistently “Roman, Latin-speaker”. This semantic shift is unsurprising as the continental Celts were being assimilated (politically, linguistically and culturally) to the Roman Empire during Proto-Germanic times. Note, however, that the Old English descendant was again applied (mostly) to Celts.

• *walhiskaz
• *walhahnuts