Welche

Map of dialects in Alsace-Lorraine. Welche is included within the Lorrain-speaking area (orange).

Welche is a Gallo-Romance dialect of Lorrain spoken in Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in the western part of Alsace in France. The varieties of this dialect include those of Bruche, Villé, Lièpvre, Kaysersberg and of Orbey. Welche is a dialect without numeric strength.

Welche is the French spelling of Welsch, a German word given to foreigners (i.e. non-Germanic-speaking people), derived from the term Walha. The word has the same linguistic roots as "Welsh", but the Welche dialect is not at all similar to the Welsh language.

Vocabulary

Due to its proximity to German-speaking areas, a lot of words have been borrowed from German.

External links

• http://www.linguasphere.org/langues_romanes.pdf
• http://juillot.home.cern.ch/juillot/ban_de_la_roche.html - variety of Ban de la Roche
• http://www.lapoutroie.fr/decouvrir/patois-welche.htm Welche patois (in French)
• http://badonpierre.free.fr/salmpierre/tome3zf.html glossary (in French)