Vlach ( /ˈvlɑːk/ or /ˈvlæk/) is a Slavic-derived term (originally borrowed from Germanic *Walha), which is used to designate the Romance speaking peoples of South-Eastern Europe: Romanians, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians and Istro-Romanians.
While historically, it was used to refer to all Latin-speaking people of the Balkans,[1] practically the remnants of romanized Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, nowadays, this term is only rarely used to refer to the Romanians, but is instead used to refer to the other Eastern Romanic peoples, living outside Romania.
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The Slavic term in turn derives from Germanic: it originates with *Walha by which the early Germanic tribes called their Celtic neighbours, possibly derived from the name of the tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae (in the writings of Julius Caesar) and to the Greeks as Ouólkai (Strabo and Ptolemy).[2]
This word for Romanic people was borrowed from the Germanic Goths (as *walhs) into Proto-Slavic some time before the 7th century. The first source using the word was the writings of Byzantine historian Kedrenos, from the mid-11th century.
From the Slavs the term passed to other peoples, such as the Hungarians ("Oláh", referring to Vlachs; olasz, referring to Italians) and Byzantines ("Βλάχοι", "Vláhi") and was used for all Latin people of the Balkans. It also acquired a secondary meaning, "shepherd" – from the occupation of many of the Vlachs of Greece and Serbia. In Albania, the opposite occurred: çoban "shepherd" (from Persian chopan, through Turkish) came to mean "Vlach".
A name used for the Southern Vlachs of Greece (Aromanians) is "Kutsovlach" (literally "limping Vlach"; possibly a reference to the way they spoke Greek) considered offensive. Tsinttsar was used to refer to the Aromanians (mainly in the Slavic countries: Serbia, Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria), derived from the way the Aromanians say the word 'five': "tsintsi". The Morlachs or Mavrovalachi (Greek for "black Vlachs"), are a group living in the Dinaric Alps.
| Language | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Βλάχοι (Vlákhi/Vláhi) | Shepherd (occasionally pejorative)/Romanian/Vlach |
| Bulgarian | влах | Romanian/Vlach |
| Bulgarian | влах | man from Wallachia |
| Czech | Valach | man from Wallachia |
| Czech | Valach | man from Valašsko (in Moravia) |
| Czech | valach | shepherd |
| Czech | valach | gelding (horse) |
| Czech | valach | lazy man |
| Czech | Vlach | Italian |
| Hungarian | vlach | Vlach |
| Hungarian | oláh | Romanian/Vlach |
| Hungarian | olasz | Italian |
| Macedonian | влав | cattle breeder, shepherd |
| Polish | Włoch | Italian |
| Polish | Włochy | Italy |
| Polish | Wołoch | Romanian / Vlach |
| Polish | wałach | gelding (horse) |
| Old Russian | волохъ | man speaking a Romance language |
| Russian | валах | Vlach |
| Serbian | Влах | citizen of the Republic of Ragusa |
| Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian | Влах, Vlah | Vlach |
| Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian | Влах, Vlah | man from Wallachia |
| Serbian (Užice dialect) | Вла(х), Старовла(х) | medieval nomadic people from Stari Vlah and Mala Vlaška |
| Croatian | Vlah | Istro-Romanian |
| Croatian (Dubrovnik dialect) | Vlah | man from Herzegovina (pejorative) |
| Croatian (western dialects) | Vlah | Italian (pejorative) |
| Serbian and Croatian | влах, vlah | medieval nomadic cattle breeder |
| Croatian (dialects of Istria) | vlah | new settler (pejorative) |
| Croatian (Dalmatian dialects) | vlah (vlaj) | plebeian (pejorative) |
| Croatian (Dalmatian insular dialects) | vlah | man from the mainland (pejorative) |
| Croatian (western and northern dialects) | vlah (vlaj) | Orthodox Christian, usually Serb (pejorative) |
| Croatian (Podravina dialects) | vlah | Catholic who is a neoshtokavian speaker (pejorative) |
| Bosnian | vlah, влах | non-Muslim living in Bosnia, usually Serb (pejorative) |
| Bosnian | vlah | Catholic (pejorative) |
| Slovak | Valach | man from Wallachia |
| Slovak | Valach | man from Valašsko (in Moravia) |
| Slovak | valach | shepherd |
| Slovak | valach | gelding (horse) |
| Slovak | Vlach | Italian |
| Slovene | Lah | Italian (pejorative) |
| Western Slovenian dialects | Lah | Friulian |
| Slovene | Vlah | Serbian immigrant (pejorative) |
| Ukrainian | волох | Romanian / Vlach |
The term was originally an exonym, as the Vlachs used various words derived from romanus to refer to themselves (români, rumâni, rumâri, aromâni, arumâni, armâni, etc.), but there are some exceptions: