Attempts to derive it from го́лос (hólos, “voice”) and connections with Ossetian гъалас (ǧalas) or Czech harašiti (“to rustle; make a harsh crackling sound”) were insufficiently substantiated. Possibly an -ас (-as) suffix formation from the гал- (hal-) element, the same as in the noun гала́й (haláj, “screamer”) and the verb гала́кати (halákaty), that is from Proto-Slavic *galъ (“noise”), of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Belarusian га́лас (hálas), Polish gałuszyć (“to rumble”), gałda (“noise, uproar”), and Russian галде́ть (galdétʹ, “to make a racket”).