Ray Saintonge wrote:
"Nation" is often an ambiguous term. The
tendency in English is to
equate it with a particular state or country, but it can sometimes
represent other groups that see themselves as distinct cultural
entities without political independence.
Yes, I agree with that; in this case, *both* meanings are actually
used---Even if we take the context to specifically be "Republic of
Macedonia" and keep the Greeks out of the picture for the moment,
"Macedonian" may mean either *any* citizen of the Republic of Macedonia,
or a specific ethnic group within that country (primarily excluding the
ethnic-Albanian RoM citizens). For example, "Macedonian Foreign
Minister [x]" refers to whoever the foreign minister of the country is,
regardless of his or her ethnicity.
The problem with [[Macedonian (ethnicity)]] though, is that northern
Greeks /also/ consider themselves to be ethnically Macedonian, which
they consider one of the Greek ethnic groups (much like "Pontian",
"Cypriot" [although Turkish Cypriots claim this one too], or
"Cretan").
Which is of course the whole crux of the RoM vs. FYROM international
dispute.
So, if [[Macedonian Slavs]] is offensive, [[Macedonian (nationality)]]
is ambiguous, and [[Macedonian (ethnicity)]] is both ambiguous and POV,
then what /do/ we use?
-Mark