[Ian]

Rob,

I think one of the key points that xasterix was making is that the Maranao call all leaf-shaped blades keping. Thus, a traditional barung from the Sulu Archipelago, when dressed in Maranao style, would qualify as a keping in the Maranao dialect.

So we have barung (Sulu), keping (Maranao), badung (Palawan) to describe similar leaf-shaped blades from different regions of the Moro peoples. These regions also have distinctive local styles for hilts and scabbards that help distinguish them (most of the time). I'm sure we will find exceptions to this general classification, but it seems useful for the present time to help distinguish between the three forms.