Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:
> I suppose you are familiar with the Volcae story (the reason why Italy is called Wl/ochy in Polish and
> Cymru is called Wales in English). It's strikingly analogous to this Venedic confusion.
>
Yes, I found the earlier posts on this subject. I also
remeber an alternative explanation I learned many years ago
in my Polish elementary school (good reference, isn't it?).
The name Wol/osi (and Walachia) was supposed to be related
to the Slavish word vol/osy (wl/osy in Polish, hair in
English) used to describe clothes made from fur (especially:
the big caps that are still used in this area), commonly
used by shepherds in Walachia. In Poland this name was later
transmitted to other travelers coming from south, and this
is the reason, why Italians are still called Wl/osi (Wl/ochy
for Italia) in Poland. You probably know this whole story,
but I wonder whether it could get some credibility from the
linguistic point of view.
Michal