Talk:Socialist Democracy of Guinea

Peul / Fula

I've changed references to "Peul" to "Fula." The former is really just the French word for Fulɓe - nothing wrong with that, but in the context of articles in English, it is potentially confusing to use a third language term in the place of an accepted English term (in this case, Fula).--A12n (talk) 14:50, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

Not sure. Peul is the more commonly used name in French-speaking countries, seemingly also in English-language literature dealing with politics/modern history of these countries. --Soman (talk) 20:20, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

You're right that "Peul," as the name in French, is used more in the Francophone states. But it is the same ethnic group, referring to itself in common terms (namely "Fulɓe") across countries. As for the use of "Peul" in English-language publications, I would argue that in some cases (arguably including some current English language press usage) it is a lack of understanding of the ethnicity, history, and the associated nomenclature. I've been there myself years ago - only realizing once in Mali that gee, these Peuls were actually Fulani, and vice versa. Looking on a regional basis, using a third language (in this case, French) term in the place of an English or Fulfulde sets up categories that complicate the scene and can confuse people. In an effort to be NPOV and help disambiguate on this, inserted a note with the parallel language equivalents.--A12n (talk) 04:49, 25 November 2010 (UTC)