Agelastes
uh-jel-AS-teez
Genus
The unsmiling one — an allusion to the bird's bare, expressionless black face
Literally: One who does not laugh
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a- | Not, without | Greek (a) | Privative prefix; this form used before consonants (vs. an- before vowels) |
| gelast | Laugh | Greek | From Greek gelastós; verbal root referring to laughing |
| -es | Agent or doer suffix | Greek | Replaces the classical Greek -os to produce a Latinized nominative form |
Agelastes is a single Greek-derived word used as a genus name, treated grammatically as a masculine Latin noun. It follows the classical formation a- (privative) + gelast- (laugh) + -es (agent suffix), mirroring the classical Greek adjective ἀγέλαστος (agélastos, 'not laughing, grim'). As a monomial genus name there is no epithet to relate to it here.
Pronunciation
- uh-jel-AS-teez Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (short a in 'as') is followed by two consonants (s+t), so the penult is stressed
Other readings
agela- (Greek, 'a herd') + -astes (Greek, 'a singer') → 'a singer of the herd'; rejected because it leaves the intervening -t- unaccounted for and produces a less coherent meaning for a guineafowl genus
The tool also matched agela- ('a herd') and -astes ('a singer') but the a- + gelast- + -es segmentation is preferred, matching the attested classical Greek adjective ἀγέλαστος. Agelastes is a small genus of bare-faced guineafowl (family Numididae); the name likely refers to the bird's stark, bare black facial skin giving it an expressionless, 'unsmiling' appearance.