I'm fascinated by this discussion of what characteristics of an instrument might be used to identify its family, and I appreciate that Rick and Dirk have taken the time to share their thoughts. As a person who plays a Compass Rose steel string jumbo baritone ukulele, my relationship with this instrument has less to do with philosophy, theory, or history (all though I enjoy hearing about all those things, and I like telling people how and why the tenor guitar evolved from a banjo) and more to do with the experience of playing it. I also play a Blueridge steel string tenor guitar (tuned DGBE, so maybe it isn't really a tenor guitar at all!), more conventional baritone ukuleles, and a Compass Rose jumbo octave ukulele. So here are my humble thoughts.
> To me, ukuleles sound more percussive than guitars. I describe this percussive effect as there being a sort of "whomp" sound that accompanies the noise made when the strings are strummed. I guess this is more noticeable in smaller scale ukuleles, like sopranos and concerts, but I feel like I notice this percussive quality in larger scale ukuleles too. My CR steel string baritone is, to my ear, more percussive than my Blueridge steel string tenor guitar. I think of this percussive quality as a characteristic that distinguishes guitars from ukuleles.
> My CR jumbo steel string baritone has an ukulele neck and fretboard. That is, the strings have what I would describe as traditional ukulele spacing. The fretboard on my Blueridge is narrower and the spacing of the strings is more like the spacing of strings on a conventional six string steel guitar. This affects the feel of my left hand when fretting and the feel of my right hand when strumming or picking. I associate closer string spacing with guitars, and to that extent, playing my CR steel string baritone feels a lot more like playing a baritone ukulele than it does like playing my Blueridge tenor guitar.
> I like Rick's point about selecting a name for an instrument that best describes what it is, although what it is could depend on whether one is referring to the feel of playing it, the sound it makes, or what you have to buy when it needs new strings, among other characteristics. As I mentioned in the post from another thread that I pasted into this thread, I have an instrument that I would call a tenor uke with steel strings if the defining element is tuning (it's tuned GCEA) or a cavaqhuinho tuned GCEA if the defining characteristic is what the strings are made of. I describe both of my Compass Rose jumbo baritones (one steel string, one octave) as baritone ukuleles, but I do tell peopkle that the steel string reminds me of a tenor guitar. Ultimately, I think the person who builds an instrument (and who has to market it) ought to be able to call it what he or she wants. Frankly, what people call my instruments -- is my Blueridge no longer a tenor guitar because it's not tuned in 5ths? -- doesn't effect my experience of playing any of them.
This whole discussion reminds me of the fable about the five blind men and the elephant, in which each man feels a different part of the elephant and describes the elephant differently because of the part of the elephant on which he is focused.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant
Again, I want to thank Rick and Dirk for taking the time to post, and support, their views.