Category talk:Sudeten German people

Category discussion
Copy of discussion from Speedy page:
 * Category:Sudeten-German people to Category:Sudeten German people – This term does not usually contain a hyphen. No sources list it with a hyphen, and our article, Sudeten Germans, doesn't have a hyphen either. RGloucester  (talk) 00:31, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
 *  Oppose : isn't this along the same lines as "an African American" and "African-American people"? HandsomeFella (talk) 07:59, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 * No, it isn’t. "Sudeten" is not an ethnic descriptor like African, but a geographic one. It is along the same lines as Category:Volga Germans. In other words, no one can be "Sudeten". They can only be "Sudeten German". The two parts are not equal. Unlike African American, where the hyphen is a stylistic choice, Sudeten German never takes a hyphen in any sources. RGloucester  (talk) 15:35, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 *  Still skeptic : the hyphen is not a stylistic choice. You can be an African American, "American" being a noun. In the case of "African-American people", "American" is an adjective, and "African" is a modifier of that adjective, which is why it needs to be hyphenated. Isn't "Sudeten" in "Sudeten-German people" a modifier in the same way? HandsomeFella (talk) 19:31, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 * With regards to African Americans, it is debated among the various style guide whether a hyphen is ever required. Most consider it a stylistic choice, yes. Chicago Manual of Style, for example, says it is never needed. In any case, "Sudeten" is not a modifier. In fact, "Sudeten" is not an adjective. It is a place name (noun), for what in German are called Die Sudeten, or, the Sudetes in English. Unlike in African American, where "African" is an equal adjective modifying another adjective, "Sudeten Germans" merely means "Germans from the Sudetes", just as Volga Germans are "Germans from the Volga". "Sudeten" is never an adjective, and it is this that makes the difference. In other words, one can’t say a "Sudeten car", or a "Volga car", in the same way one can say an "African car" or an "American car". In other words, an equivalent term that is more familiar would be "Pennsylvania Germans", where Pennsylvania is a noun and not an adjective, and hence, never takes a hyphen. RGloucester  (talk) 22:04, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 * You are probably right. HandsomeFella (talk) 14:29, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

The above discussion is now closed. – Fayenatic  L ondon 18:11, 6 May 2013 (UTC)