Talk:Fedayeen Saddam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Does the noun "Fedayeen" refer to the loose organization of fighters as a singular noun, or does it refer to many fighters, or both? I've noticed that in this article and on many news programs the two uses appear to be interchangeable and equally acceptable. Could someone with a knowledge of Arabic or Aramaic, preferably native, check this?--Yurtian 19:01, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
In Arabic, the term "Fedayeen" is plural, referring to the members themselves, but when using it in English, it is also being used to abbreviate "Fedayeen Saddam." This use should probably be avoided, and even edited out of the article if possible, by someone familiar enough to distiguish with certainty which occurrence is which. "Fedayeen" as a plural should be fine, but to those unfamiliar might be confusing, and thus should maybe be replaced with simply "members" or some other English term (Or Arabic term, if explained elsewhere). Disclaimer: Not a native speaker, just cursory knowledge of grammar, writing, etc. very generally. I am, however, 100% sure that's just the plural in Arabic. --Michael.Niemann 23:24, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
