I find it humorous that you answer Bill's post "not necessarily" since he clearly uses language like "you will always find exceptions", "in general" and "exception to the rule". Seems he is already saying "not necessarily" out of the gate.
Can you show us an example of these shorter Maranaos regalia kris? It should be noted that regalia by nature is generally passed down through many generation and while dress might be changed and updated these shorter swords you have "seen" might very well be much older kris there by fall right in step with the general point Bill was indeed making.
I think that if you would spend the time to do a little research with the search function on this forum you might discover that this is not necessarily new information to this group of collectors. I will add, however, that both the Maguindanaos and the Tausugs had more than just one hilt design. Also it is very common to find cross-over kris that might have the blade form one group with the handle from another, either because the blade was captured, gifted or traded. Classification of these kris becomes even more difficult.
I don't think anybody here is disagreeing with this.
As for traditional names for kris, i don't know how specific the naming of kris got in the Philippines. In Indonesia regalia keris were all given personal names like Durga Dingkul, Si Tanda Langlang and Bangawan Canggu. These are names like you calling yourself Baganing Balyan.
But these other names we are using are merely descriptive names that determine both the profile (dhapur in Indonesia) of the blade and the origin, since these descriptive terms are specific to certain group's dialects. To say "Kalis Tulid" then not only descibes the kris as a straight blade, but also as one coming from the Tausug people. It is not the same at all as saying "daga knife" which is just redundant. It is a way of classifying a kris so that we as collectors get an immediate understanding of what shape and from what area the kris comes.
Perhaps you didn't find your way to this page on Federico's site:
http://home.earthlink.net/~federicom...aponsmain.html
Or this one where he describes the different parts of the kris in 3 major dialects.
http://home.earthlink.net/~federicom...o/diagram.html
BTW, you seem suspicious that Cato is one of Federico's references. I find it difficult to understand how anyone who has spent as much time as you obviously have studying the kris would not have come across Cato's book before. As i pointed out before, it might be flawed in places, but it is to my knowledge the only book published (at least in English) on the subject, so you probably would have found it quoted numerous times in your research. You might also note that Federico also uses many other references in his research for his site:
http://home.earthlink.net/~federicom...liography.html