wälsch

See also: walsch and Walsch

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German welisc, from Old High German walask, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz (“foreign; non-Germanic”). Cognate with Mòcheno balsch (“Italian”), German welsch (“concerning Romance-speaking areas of Switzerland”), Yiddish וועליש‎ (velish‎, “Vellish (typeface for printed Hebrew)”), Dutch Waals (“Walloon”), English Welsh, French gaulois (“Gaulish”), Old Norse valskr (“Celtic; Roman”), also English Wallachia (“principality in southern Romania”), Latin Volcae (“a Gallic tribal confederation”).

Adjective

wälsch (Uri)

1. pertaining to the Romance-speaking areas and population of Switzerland.
2. Italian

Related terms

• wältsch, wailsch, walts

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 15.