Derivation of "Wales"

[Richard J Senghas]

Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, has for 
etymology of "welsh", as I didn't find an entry for "Wales":

[OE. (West Saxon) Wilisc, Wylisc, (Anglian and Kentish) Welisc, Wælisc, 
f. Wealh, Walh, Celt, Briton, = OHG. Walh, Walah (MHG. Walch, G. Wahle) 
Celt, Roman, etc., ON. *Valr (pl. Valir, Gauls, Frenchmen): see etym. 
note to WALNUT, and cf. WALACH and VLACH. To the English adj. 
correspond OHG. wal(a)hisc, walesc (MHG. walh-, wälhisch, walsch, etc., 
G. wälsch, welsch), Roman, Italian, French, Du. waalsch Walloon, ON. 
valskr Gaulish, French (MSw. valskr; Sw. välsk, Da. vælsk Italian, 
French, southern); cf. the note to WALSHNUT.
  In OE. the final h of the stem normally disappeared before the 
adjectival ending. The West Saxon type *Wielisc (from Wealh) did not 
survive beyond the OE. period; the two Anglian and Kentish types (from 
Walh) existed concurrently till the 16th cent., after which Welsh 
became the sole form in general use, Walsh remaining only as a surname. 
(The AF. Waleis, which is rarely employed in ME., also survives in the 
surname Wallace.)
  The spelling Welch is retained in the title of the Royal Welch 
Fusiliers.] 

On Sep 23, 2005, at 6:02 AM, Julia Pührer wrote:

> I can confirm this. I have only recently heard that in the Austrian 
> province of Carinthia, people who belong to the Slovene minority there 
> are sometimes referred to as "welsch" ("wösch").
>
> J. Puehrer
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harold F. Schiffman" 
> <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> To: <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 2:45 PM
> Subject: Re: Derivation of "Wales"
>
>
>> German also has the term Welsch, meaning something like "outlander" or
>> foreigner. (Now pejorative in "Kauderwelsch" meaning 'mish-mash',
>> jibberish, etc.)
>>
>> Hal S.
>>
>> On Fri, 23 Sep 2005, Kephart, Ronald wrote:
>>
>>> >  I doubt Ron's derivation of Wales.  I understand it comes from
>>> >Galicia  of which there was one in old Anatolia, hardly a place
>>> >where Old English was spoken.
>>> >
>>> >  Christina Paulston
>>>
>>> Christina, I could be wrong. I'm going by my American Heritage
>>> Dictionary of the English Language, New College Edition (1980), which
>>> gives the etymology as:
>>>
>>> Middle English Wales, Old English Wealas, [...] plural of wealh,
>>> foreigner, Roman, Celt, Welshman.
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>
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