Mittellateinisch-romanisch vallis 'Tal' als administrative Raumbezeichnung in der französchischen Schweiz: das Zeugnis der Ortsnamen

Abstract

There are not many written records of the early Middle Ages in French- speaking Switzerland. One must therefore try to enhance our knowledge by other means. The Latin word vallis, literally 'valley', is known to mean “district of the Carolingian period' in Southern France. Rather surprisingly, one also finds in Suisse romande the same meaning when vallis is followed not by a river name but by a place name. Some instances seem to be quite sure: there is not always a watercourse available in the surroundings and vallis alternates with its synonym pagus “district'.