The title and the following observations come from Rebecca Hamilton:<\/p>\r\n
I was reading Patrick Leigh Fermor's Between the Woods and the Water: on Foot to Constantinople<\/i>, as I convalesce from COVID-19 (I've had a hard time of it), and I stumbled upon an aside he made about the French \"hongre,\" meaning \"gelding,\" as does the German \"wallach.\" He made this comment – without further explication – in the context of a discussion of the ethnographic roots of Hungarians, Wallachians, and Rumanians (in particular, the latter as being descendants of Roman occupation, if not Romans themselves). What all this means, I cannot say. It seemed like a topic you would know something about. Because I am confined to bed for the moment, if you could be so kind as to forward me some reading material, I would be very grateful. Also, anything about \"Wales\" or \"Welsh\" sharing etymological roots with \"Wallach,\" and how \"wether\" fits into all this would be great.<\/p>\r\n
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This is a tall, but very interesting and challenging, order, so I hardly know where to begin.\u00a0 Somewhat arbitrarily, I'll start near the end, with \"Wallach\", because I know (and know of) people with that surname (most notably Eli Wallach [1915-2014]), and I'm curious to learn how their surname got wrapped up in that enigma.<\/p>\r\n
From Middle Low German<\/a><\/span> wallache<\/a><\/i>, borrowed in Prussia\/Baltics from older Russian<\/a><\/span> \u0432\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0445<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>volox<\/span>)<\/span>, from Proto-Slavic<\/a><\/span> *volx\u044a<\/a><\/i>, from Proto-Germanic<\/a><\/span> *walhaz<\/a><\/i>. Compare Polish<\/a><\/span> wa\u0142ach<\/a><\/i>, which is also a borrowing from East Slavic. The Slavic word means \u201cRomance speaker\u201d, especially one of Romania, i.e. a Wallachian<\/a> or Vlach<\/a>. Wallachian herdsmen are credited with having invented a new form of castration.<\/p>\r\n Wiktionary<\/a><\/p>\r\n So the surname \"Wallach\" really does have something directly related to Rebecca's idle thoughts on \"gelding\".<\/p>\r\n Before tackling \"wether\" and \"Wales \/ Welsh\", then moving upward through Rebecca's packed paragraph, perhaps a few words about \"gelding\", and why it's not an idle topic at all.<\/p>\r\n From Middle English<\/a><\/span> geldyng<\/a><\/i>, geldynge<\/a><\/i>, from Old Norse<\/a><\/span> geldingr<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>\u201c<\/span>wether, eunuch<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span>, from gelda<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>\u201c<\/span>to castrate<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span>, equivalent to geld<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>\u201c<\/span>to castrate<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span> +\u200e -ing<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>diminutive suffix<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/p>\r\n Wiktionary<\/a><\/p>\r\n A gelding<\/b> is a castrated<\/a> horse<\/a> or other equine<\/a>, such as a donkey<\/a> or a mule<\/a>. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior<\/a> associated with a stallion<\/a>, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday working animal<\/a>. The gerund<\/a> and participle<\/a> \"gelding\" and the infinitive \"to geld\" refer to the castration procedure itself.<\/p>\r\n The verb \"to geld\" comes from the Old Norse<\/a> gelda<\/i>, from the adjective geldr<\/i> (\"barren\"). The noun \"gelding\" is from the Old Norse geldingr<\/i>.<\/p>\r\n The Scythians<\/a> are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses. They valued geldings as war horses<\/a> because they were quiet, lacked mating urges, were less prone to call out to other horses, were easier to keep in groups, and were less likely to fight with one another.<\/p>\r\n Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\r\n geld\u00a0(v.)<\/a><\/p>\r\n Online Etymological Dictionary<\/a><\/p>\r\n Castration of humans and animals may seem like a perverse and cruel form of punishment, depriving a male of the ability to reproduce and to enjoy the pleasures of sex, together with the shame that condition entails.\u00a0 Indeed, such was the case with Sima Qian<\/a> (b. circa 145 \/ 135-d. 86 [after 91] BC), who was castrated for having spoken out in defense of a general who lost a battle against the Xiongnu<\/a>.\u00a0 Yet, after having been deprived of his virility, Sima Qian poured all of his talents and energies into the completion of his monumental Records of the Grand Historian \/ Scribe<\/i><\/a> or Shiji<\/i>, whereby — through a process of sublimation — he achieved immortal fame as \"the father of Chinese historiography<\/a>\".<\/p>\r\n Another important castrated figure in Chinese history was the famous eunuch admiral, Zheng He (1371-1433).<\/p>\r\n The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian<\/a> city of Lagash<\/a> in the 21st century BC. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers<\/a> or equivalent domestics<\/a>, treble singers<\/a>, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem<\/a> servants.<\/p>\r\n Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\r\n In China, large numbers of eunuchs were required in the imperial palaces for the maintenance and protection of the harem<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish<\/a><\/span> \u062d\u0631\u0645<\/a><\/i>\u200e (<\/span>harem<\/span>)<\/span> Turkish<\/a><\/span> harem<\/a><\/i>, from Arabic<\/a><\/span> \u062d\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0645<\/a><\/i>\u200e (<\/span>\u1e25aram<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>something prohibited; sanctuary, women<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span>; and later also from \u062d\u064e\u0631\u0650\u064a\u0645<\/a><\/i>\u200e (<\/span>\u1e25ar\u012bm<\/span>)<\/span> with same meaning, both from \u062d\u064e\u0631\u064f\u0645\u064e<\/a><\/i>\u200e (<\/span>\u1e25aruma<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>be forbidden or unlawful<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/p>\r\n Wiktionary<\/a><\/p>\r\n Corrupt eunuchs amassed enormous amounts of wealth and power toward the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which ultimately led to its collapse.<\/p>\r\n While it is easy to view castration as a gross type of mutilation of the male body, it was often done for specific purposes — to enhance certain desirable traits and to minimize other, undesirable traits.<\/p>\r\n For example, the name \"castrati<\/a>\" is a direct reference to the operation that was performed on these high voiced singers during the pre-pubescent years:<\/p>\r\n A castrato<\/b> (Italian, plural: castrati<\/i>) is a type<\/a> of classical<\/a> male singing<\/a> voice<\/a> equivalent to that of a soprano<\/a>, mezzo-soprano<\/a>, or contralto<\/a>. The voice is produced by castration<\/a> of the singer before puberty<\/a>, or it occurs in one who, due to an endocrinological<\/a> condition, never reaches sexual maturity<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents a boy's larynx<\/a> from being transformed by the normal physiological events<\/a> of puberty. As a result, the vocal range<\/a> of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century and was made illegal in the Papal States<\/a>, the last to prohibit them, in 1870.<\/p>\r\n Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\r\n For a similar phenomenon in early China, see the second and following paragraphs, as well as the comments, of this post, \"Poetry as 'Word Temple' \u2014 NOT<\/a>\" (10\/4\/13), which shows that there is a connection between the birth of \"poet\" as a profession in early China and eunuchs who specialized in that capacity (!).<\/p>\r\n Cockerels can be raised to enormous size by caponizing them.\u00a0 See \"Rooster Caponizing Competition<\/a>\" (1\/16\/15). \u00a0<\/p>\r\n And so on and so forth — the virtues (economic and cultural significance) of castration!\u00a0 This is something that human beings discovered already at least by the 3rd millennium BC.<\/p>\r\n Now, on to Wales.<\/p>\r\n The names \"Wales\" and \"Welsh\" are modern descendants of the Anglo-Saxon word wealh<\/i>, a descendant of the Proto-Germanic<\/a> word \"Walhaz<\/a>\", which was derived from the name of the Gaulish people<\/a> known to the Romans as Volcae<\/a> and which came to refer indiscriminately to inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire<\/a>. The Old English<\/a>-speaking Anglo-Saxons<\/a> came to use the term to refer to the Britons<\/a> in particular. As the Britons' territories shrank, the term came ultimately to be applied to a smaller group of people, and the plural form of Wealh, W\u0113alas<\/i>, evolved into the name for the territory that best maintained cultural continuity with pre-Anglo-Saxon Britain: Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking<\/a> people in Continental Europe<\/a> (e.g. Wallonia<\/a>, Wallachia<\/a>, Valais<\/a><\/i>, Vlachs<\/a>, and W\u0142ochy<\/i>, the Polish<\/a> name for Italy) have a similar etymology.<\/p>\r\n Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\r\n As a child, just as I was tickled by the name \"Turkey\", which was identical with the name of the oversized fowl that we eat for Thanksgiving, I was intrigued by the country name \"Hungary\", which I found amusing because it sounded like \"hungry\", although, even then, I was not naive enough to think that there was any causal relationship between \"hungry\" and \"Hungary\".\u00a0 If I had known the real etymology, that \"Hungary\" has something to do with gelding, I would have been just as astonished as if it had something to do with \"hungry\".<\/p>\r\n It turns out that our English name \"Hungary\" is related to French \"hongre\", which means \"gelding\" (a gelded, castrated male horse)<\/span>, since the practice of gelding originated in Hungary (Fr. Hongrie<\/a><\/span>).\u00a0 (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n c. 1300, from Medieval Latin Hungaria<\/span> (also source of French Hongrie<\/span>), probably literally meaning \"land of the Huns,\" who ruled a vast territory from there under Attila in 5c. The people's name for themselves we transliterate as Magyar<\/span>. Middle English uses the same words for both Attila's people and the Magyars, who appeared in Europe in 9c. and established a kingdom in 1000. From the same source as Medieval Greek Oungroi<\/span>, German Ungarn<\/span>, Russian Vengriya<\/span>, Ukrainian<\/p>\r\n (Online Etymological Dictionary<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n As for \"Turkey\", it is:<\/p>\r\n From Middle English<\/a><\/span> Turkye<\/a><\/i>, which is borrowed from French<\/a><\/span> Turquie<\/a><\/i>, Medieval Latin<\/a><\/span> Turcia<\/a><\/i>, from Turcus<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Turk<\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span>, from Byzantine Greek<\/a><\/span> \u03a4\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c1\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2<\/a><\/i> (<\/span>To\u00fbrkos<\/span>)<\/span>, from Persian<\/a><\/span> \u062a\u0631\u06a9<\/a><\/i>\u200e (<\/span>Turk<\/span>)<\/span>, from Middle Persian<\/a><\/span> [Term?]<\/small> (<\/span>twlk'<\/span> \/Turk\/<\/span>)<\/span>, from an Old Turkic<\/a><\/span><\/span> autonym, T\u00fcrk<\/a><\/i> or T\u00fcr\u00fck<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\r\n (Wiktionary<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n The country name \"Turkey\" (late 14th c.) derives from the Medieval Latin Turchia<\/span>, from Turcus:<\/span><\/p>\r\n c. 1300, from French Turc<\/span>, from Medieval Latin Turcus<\/span>, from Byzantine Greek Tourkos<\/span>, Persian turk<\/span>, a national name, of unknown origin. Said to mean \"strength\" in Turkish. Compare Chinese tu-kin<\/span>, recorded from c. 177 B.C.E. as the name of a people living south of the Altai Mountains (identified by some with the Huns). In Persian, turk<\/span>, in addition to the national name, also could mean \"a beautiful youth,\" \"a barbarian,\" \"a robber.\"<\/p>\r\n \u00a0(Online Etymological Dictionary<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n For the ultimate origins of the \"Turk\" ethnonym, we must search much more deeply:<\/p>\r\n The first known mention of the term Turk<\/i> (Old Turkic<\/a>: T\u00fcr\u00fck<\/i> or : K\u00f6k T\u00fcr\u00fck<\/i> Chinese<\/a>: \u7a81\u53a5<\/span>, Old Tibetan<\/a>: duruggu\/durgu (meaning 'origin'), Pinyin<\/a>: T\u016bju\u00e9, Middle Chinese<\/a> (Guangyun<\/a>): [t\u02b0uot-k\u00fcot]<\/a><\/span>) applied to a Turkic group was in reference to the G\u00f6kt\u00fcrks<\/a> in the 6th century (in the Kh\u00fcis Tolgoi inscription<\/a>, most likely not later than 587 AD<\/i>). A letter by Ishbara Qaghan<\/a> to Emperor Wen of Sui<\/a> in 585 described him as \"the Great Turk Khan\". The Bugut<\/a> (584 CE) and Orkhon inscriptions<\/a> (735 CE) use the terms T\u00fcrk\u00fct<\/i>, T\u00fcrk<\/i> and T\u00fcr\u00fck<\/i>.<\/p>\r\n Previous use of similar terms are of unknown significance, although some strongly feel that they are evidence of the historical continuity of the term and the people as a linguistic unit since early times. This includes the Chinese Spring and Autumn Annals<\/a><\/i>, which refer to a neighbouring people as