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ArchivesRe: walsh
in reply to a message by Samantha
Not, strictly speaking, a Celtic name. It is a very common Irish surname indicating a Celtic origin. Walsh comes from WALH, the Old Germanic name for a foreigner, i.e., non-German speaker. The Anglo-Saxons gave this name to the Britons among whom they settled, and they are now the Welsh. Settlers in Ireland were called Walsh by the English and Breathnach by the Irish. The actor Kenneth Branagh has an English spelling of the Irish name for a Welshman for his surname (confused?).
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I am totally confused in simple terms that means what exactly?
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Basically it is a Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) word for "foreigner" (and foreigner in the Ancient World often meant those who speak differently from the way you do)
The ironic part is that they used the term for those people already on the land they settle afterwards ...thus they were actually the 'foreigners' ...
The ironic part is that they used the term for those people already on the land they settle afterwards ...thus they were actually the 'foreigners' ...
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As far as I can see “walsh” or “welsh” does not have the original meaning “foreigner”. T.F.Hoad (Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, 1996) says: “of unknown origin”, and so do all the other dictionaries of (German) etymology, I could get hold of, including Grimm’s “Deutsches Wörterbuch”.
The name obviously goes back to the Celtic tribe of the “Volcae”, mentioned be Caesar in his “De Bello Gallico”. On the continent the term meant (and still means) “Romanic”, that is of French, Spanish or (especially) Italian origin (and hence dark appearance and youneverknowwhatelse). It looks like that the word took the meaning “foreigner” (as well as “slave”) in Britain, but it was originally used to denote the Celtic population of the Cymrs. “Welsch” does have a slightly negative connotation in German and has been used as a synonyme for “foreign”,
The name obviously goes back to the Celtic tribe of the “Volcae”, mentioned be Caesar in his “De Bello Gallico”. On the continent the term meant (and still means) “Romanic”, that is of French, Spanish or (especially) Italian origin (and hence dark appearance and youneverknowwhatelse). It looks like that the word took the meaning “foreigner” (as well as “slave”) in Britain, but it was originally used to denote the Celtic population of the Cymrs. “Welsch” does have a slightly negative connotation in German and has been used as a synonyme for “foreign”,
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