Talk:Pular grammar

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Since I am the author of most of the content of this article, I will try to respond to some of the issues raised about the article. Here are the issues: 1. "It is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Tagged since July 2011. 2. "Very few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links to this page from other articles related to it. Tagged since August 2011. 3. "It may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since July 2011."

To address the first issue, I had to verify the meaning of an "encyclopedic description". According to "dictionary.com", this means a description that comprehends a wide variety of information or a comprehensive description. Please note that the article specifies that its content pertains mostly to the Pular grammar found mainly in Futa Jallon. Since the Pular language is complicated and it varies from region to region, different articles should focus on different regions for the sake of simplification, comparison and maybe reconciliation. In addition, I find it reasonable for me to write only about the version of Pular in which I am knowledgeable. Furthermore, I think the article has gotten more and more comprehensive over time. I plan to add more information whenever I get a chance.

As for the personal reflection part, I wonder if there is a better way to decipher the rules of a language than to have native speakers reflect on what makes sense to them. Before adding or eliminating information from this article, I ask my family and friends who are native speakers of Pular from Futa Jallon. So rather than being based only on my personal knowledge, I would say that this article is based on what makes sense to thousands of people over hundreds of generations. However, I would greatly appreciate contributions from others. So far I have not found someone willing to put it the time.

To address the second issue, I would say that I don't know many articles that are related to Pular Grammar. There is a wonderful book for beginners called "Midho Waawi Pular! Learner's Guide to Pular (Fuuta Jallon)", but I have already sited this source.

As for the third issue, I really don't know how to wikify an article very much. I have tried to spell correctly, organize the information, use simple words, use correct grammar and support my claims with plenty of examples. If I have failed, please forgive me and help me out.

Thank you for your kind interest,

Cherif Diallo

Edits & suggestions

User:Cdiallom put a lot of work went into this article. I've tried to upgrade it such as I can, but with any large article, a lot could be done. Specific changes include:

Updated the Pular orthography to conform to the current official one in Guinea (and the rest of the region), which is also what is used in the Miɗo Waawi Pular reference. This was done with a series of search and replaces.
Brought in a few key concepts to the discussion of verbs - though the edits here are not complete.
Mentioned usage across Fula varieties (and ways Pular may be distinct) in a few areas.
Added English names for a couple of fruits (among examples).

More could be done - this article should be improved.

That said, there is also a need for a general discussion of aspects of the Fula language & grammar - perhaps a series of articles - that could in effect take the weight off of articles like this one. In other words, when basic concepts like the 3 voices of verbs or the noun morphology are explained as they apply to all varieties of Fula (and in more detail than is appropriate in the main Fula language article), then articles such as this one on Pular can focus more on the particularities of the variety, rather than repeating the basics. So the suite of articles would work together.--A12n (talk) 02:46, 6 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]