Talk:Pen Ran

Moving the Article from Pan Ron to Pen Ran
For several months I have been doing research on 60s-70s Cambodian rock and have updated the associated Wikipedia articles accordingly. I have thought very carefully about the proper article title for the singer that WP is currently calling Pan Ron. The Romanization of her name has taken some turns based on the intended audience.

In every video interview I can find in which a true Khmer speaker (e.g. Chhom Nimol) says her name, they pronounce it “pan ron” as an English speaker would spell it, as in fryingPAN RONald. However, French is Cambodia’s colonial language and a French speaker would use the spelling Pen Ran for the same thing. In items intended for English speakers, she is called Pan Ron in the Cambodian Rocks bootleg and City of Ghosts soundtrack, but she is called Pen Ran in the professionally-researched documentary Don't Think I've Forgotten.

So when in doubt, my proposal is to go with the classics. Her original 60s-70s records (such as and ) were targeted at French speakers and therefore the spelling is Pen Ran. That is apparently the original Romanization of her name, and since Wikipedia is an international service, I think Pen Ran is more likely to be used by people around the world when searching for her on WP, especially if they have seen her old record covers.

So I am going to be bold and move the page to Pen Ran, and will make sure that all text and redirects are adjusted accordingly. I would not be offended or surprised if anyone thinks the move should be reversed, but it would help to discuss the reasons here. Now go listen to her music! ---  DOOMSDAYER 520 (Talk&#124;Contribs) 19:46, 3 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I disagree. Wikipedia is indeed an "international service" but enWP is targeted at English speakers, not French (or any other language for that matter). In English, it most common by far to see "Pan Ron" and that spelling also more closely approximates the Khmer pronunciation in English orthography, which is what we use on enWP. It is jarring to see it spelled any other way. Creating a redirect at Pen Ran for anybody who might search that spelling would suffice.--William Thweatt TalkContribs 20:06, 3 April 2018 (UTC)
 * With 110% respect, your opinion was the same as my own until I dove into the research. I acknowledge what you have said about enWP but have made the choice based on her original record covers, which serve as physical documentation. I also acknowledge that there is no perfect answer to this conundrum. Right now I am scouring WP to make sure all redirects are working properly. ---  DOOMSDAYER 520 (Talk&#124;Contribs) 20:22, 3 April 2018 (UTC)