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Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Latin is the name of various peoples or ethnicities related to the Latium region in the Italian Peninsula, to the Latin language, or to its descendants Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. It is also called Vallachians, Wallachians, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs; (Albanian: Vllehë; Czech: Valaši; Greek: Βλάχοι Vláhi; Polish: Wołosi; South Slavic: Власи Vlasi; Turkish: Ulahlar; Ukrainian: Волохи Volokhy). Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. South Slavic languages comprise one of the three geographical groups of Slavic languages (besides West and East Slavic) Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. Groups that have historically been called Vlachs include: modern-day Romanians, Aromanians, Morlachs, Megleno-Romanians and Istro-Romanians. The Romanians (dated Rumanians or Roumanians; Romanian: români or historically and today rather seldom and only regional rumâni Aromanians (or Macedo-Rumans; in Aromanian they call themselves Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans Morlachs (in Serbian Morlaci or Морлаци in Greek Μαυροβλάχοι Mavrovlachi or Mauro-Vlachs, meaning "Black Vlachs " in The Megleno-Romanians or Meglen Vlachs ( Megleno-Romanian Vlashi; Greek Βλαχομογλενίτες Vlachomoglenítes) are Istro-Romanians ( Ethnonym: Vlaşi, also proper Rumâri and Rumêri; called Ćiribiri / Ćići by the local Slavic Since the creation of the Romanian state, the term in English has mostly been used for those living outside Romania. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania

The term "Vlach" is originally an exonym. An exonym (from Greek el ἔξω exo = out el ὄνομα onoma = name is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local All the Vlach groups used various words derived from romanus to refer to themselves: Români, Rumâni, Rumâri, Aromâni, Arumâni etc. (note: the Megleno-Romanians nowadays call themselves "Vlaşi", but historically called themselves "Rămâni"; The Istro-Romanians also have adopted the names Vlaşi, but still use Rumâni and Rumâri to refer to themselves).

Vlachs descend predominantly from the Romanised Dacians, Thracians and Illyrians, the indigenous populations of the Balkans, and Roman colonists (from various provinces of the Roman Empire). The Dacians ( Lat Daci, Gr Dákai) were a Thracian people the ancient inhabitants of Dacia (located in the area "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity Illyrians has come to refer to a broad ill-defined " Indo-European " group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans ( Illyria, roughly In Ancient Rome, a province (Latin provincia, pl provinciae) was the basic and until the Tetrarchy (circa

The Vlach languages, also called the Eastern Romance languages, have a common origin from the Proto-Romanian language. The Eastern Romance languages, sometimes known as the Vlach languages, are a group of Romance languages that developed in Southeastern Europe Proto-Romanian (also known as "Common Romanian" româna comună or "Ancient Romanian" străromâna) is a hypothetical Language considered Over the centuries, the Vlachs split into various Vlach groups (see Romania in the Dark Ages) and mixed with neighbouring populations: Slavs, Greeks, Albanians, Cumans, and others. The Early Middle Ages in Romania (also known the Dark Ages) lasted from about the 5th century to the 10th century, between the Hunnic The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language Cumans (Кумани Byzantine: Kuman or Cuman, Kunok Turkic: Kumanlar) were a nomadic Turkic people who inhabited a

Almost all modern nations in Central and Southeastern Europe (Austria, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and the Republic of Macedonia) have native Vlach minorities. Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and

Contents

Etymology

Main article: History of the term Vlach

The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to (mainly) Romance-speaking neighbours. Vlach is a Slavic -derived term from the Germanic word Valah/Valach used to designate the Romance speaking peoples of South-Eastern Europe: Romanians The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Walh (singular or Walha (plural ( is an ancient Germanic word meaning "foreigner" or "stranger" ( Welsh) or "roman" The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all As such, it shares its history with several ethnic names all across Europe , including the Welsh and Walloons. The Welsh people ( Welsh: Cymro ("Welshman" Cymraes ("Welsh woman" Cymry ("Welshmen/women" Cymry Walloons (Wallons Walons are a Romance people living in Belgium principally in Wallonia. Slavic people initially used the name Vlachs when referring to Romanic people in general. Latin is the name of various peoples or ethnicities related to the Latium region in the Italian Peninsula, to the Latin language, or to its descendants Later on, the meaning became narrower or just different. For example Italy is called Włochy in Polish, and Olaszország ("Olasz country") in Hungarian. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Hungarian ( magyar nyelv) is a Uralic language (more specifically a Ugric language) unrelated to most other languages in Europe.

Through history, the term "Vlach" was often used for groups which were not ethnically Vlachs, often pejoratively - for example for any shepherding community, for Serbs, or for Christians by Muslims. Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt A shepherd is a person who tends to feeds or guards Sheep, especially in flocks Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion In the Croatian region of Dalmatia, Vlaj/Vlah (sing. ) and Vlaji/Vlasi (plural) are the terms used by the inhabitants of coastal towns for the people who live inland or pejoratively: barbarians who came from the mountain. In Greece, the word Βλάχος (Vláhos) is often used as a slur against any supposedly uncouth or uncultured person. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία However, in recent years there has been a concerted effort by Greek Vlachs to reclaim the term from its negative connotations and to proclaim openly and proudly their Vlach identity.

Wallachia

Besides the separation of some groups (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians) during the Age of Migration, many other Vlachs could be found all over the Balkans, as far north as Poland and as far west as the territory Moravia (part of modern Czech Republic), and as far south as the present-day Croatia. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Moravia (Morava; Morawy Moravie Moravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between They reached these regions in search of better pastures, and were called "Wallachians" (Vlasi; Valaši) by the Slavic peoples.

Statal Entities:

Regions:

People

Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Vlachs/Romanians highlighted
Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Vlachs/Romanians highlighted

Culture

Many Vlachs were shepherds in the medieval times, driving their sheep through the mountains of Southeastern Europe. The Vlach shepherds reached as far as Southern Poland and Moravia in the North (by following the Carpathian range), Dinaric Alps in West, the Pindus mountains in South, and as far as the Caucasus Mountains in the east [1]. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Moravia (Morava; Morawy Moravie Moravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. The Dinaric Alps or Dinarides ( Croatian and Bosnian: Dinarsko gorje or Dinaridi, Alpet Dinaride This article is about the mountain range called Pindus for other uses of these names see Pindus (disambiguation The Pindus (Πίνδος This article is about the terrestrial Eurasian mountain range

In many of these areas, the descendants of the Vlachs have lost their language, but their legacy still lives today in cultural influences: customs, folklore and the way of life of the mountain people, as well as in the place names of Romanian or Aromanian origin that are spread all across the region.

Another part of the Vlachs, especially those in the northern parts, in Romania and Moldova, were traditional farmers growing cereals. Linguists believe that the large vocabulary of Latin words related to agriculture shows that they have always been a farming Vlach population, unlike the Albanians, who have borrowed many of these words from Slavic. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language

Just like the language, the cultural links between the Northern Vlachs (Romanians) and Southern Vlachs (Aromanians) were broken by the 10th century, and since then, there were different cultural influences:

Religion

The religion of the Vlachs is predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but there are some regions where they are Catholics and Protestants (mainly in Transylvania) and a few are even Muslims (Megleno-Romanians from Greece who converted to Islam and have been living in Turkey since the 1923 exchange of populations). The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The Megleno-Romanians or Meglen Vlachs ( Megleno-Romanian Vlashi; Greek Βλαχομογλενίτες Vlachomoglenítes) are Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religious identity or a change from one religious identity to another For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey is the first large-scale population exchange, or agreed mutual expulsion in the 20th century

History

The first record of a Balkan Romanic presence in the Byzantine period can be found in the writings of Procopius, in the 5th Century. Procopius of Caesarea ( Προκόπιος ο Καισαρεύς, c The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini / Common Era. The writings mention forts with names such as Skeptekasas (Seven Houses), Burgulatu (Broad City), Loupofantana (Wolf's Well) and Gemellomountes (Twin Mountains). A Byzantine chronicle of 586 about an incursion against the Avars in the eastern Balkans may contain one of the earliest references to Vlachs. The Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. The account states that when the baggage carried by a mule slipped, the muleteer shouted, "Torna, torna, fratre!" ("Return, return, brother!"). However the account might just be a recording of one of the last appearances of Latin (Vulgar Latin). Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin

Blachernae, the suburb of Constantinople, was named after a certain Duke from Scythia named "Blachernos". Blachernae (Βλαχερναί was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th His name may be linked with the name "Blachs" (Vlachs).

In the 10th Century, the Hungarians arrived in the Pannonian plain, and, according to the Gesta Hungarorum written by an anonymous chancellor of King Bela III of Hungary, the plain was inhabited by Slavs, Bulgars, Vlachs and pastores Romanorum (shepherds of the Romans) (in original: sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum). Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. The Pannonian Plain is a large Plain in Central Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried out Gesta Hungarorum may also refer to Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum, written by Simon of Kéza Béla III ( Hungarian: III Béla, Croatian: Bela II, Slovak: Belo III) (c The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia, However, the chronicle was written around 1146.

In 1185, two noble brothers from Tarnovo named Peter and Asen led a Bulgarian revolt against Byzantine Greek rule and declared Tsar Peter II (also known as Theodore Peter) as king of the reborn state. Veliko Tarnovo (Велико Търново sometimes transliterated as Veliko Turnovo) is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of The following year, the Byzantines were forced to recognize Bulgaria's independence. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Peter styled himself "Tsar of the Bulgars, Greeks, and Vlachs" as did most subsequent rulers of the Second Bulgarian Empire (see Vlach-Bulgar Rebellion). The Second Bulgarian Empire ( Bulgarian: Второ българско царство Vtorо Balgarskо Tsartsvo) was a Medieval Bulgarian state

See also

Further reading

External links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Silviu Dragomir: "Vlahii din nordul peninsulei Balcanice în evul mediu"; 1959, p. George Murnu ( Aromanian: Ioryi al Murnu; January 1 1868, Veria, in the Ottoman Empire 172;

Dictionary

Vlachs

-noun

  1. Plural form of Vlach.
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