Apteryx rowi
AP-ter-iks ROH-wee
Species
the kiwi known as rowi — the Okarito brown kiwi, named from its Māori name
Literally: wingless one of the rowi
Apteryx · genus name
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a- | not, without | Greek (a) | privative prefix; the form 'an-' is used before vowels, 'a-' before consonants |
| -pteryx | a wing; a feather; a fin | Greek (ptery, -g, -go, -x) | the -x form (pteryx) is the nominative singular of the noun πτέρυξ; here used as the terminal element of the compound |
rowi · specific epithet
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| rowi | the Māori name for the Okarito brown kiwi (Apteryx rowi); also used as a common name for the species in New Zealand English | Māori | treated as a noun in apposition to the genus name Apteryx; it does not inflect for gender and requires no ending change to agree with the genus |
Apteryx is a Greek-derived feminine genus name (πτέρυξ, -υγος is feminine). The specific epithet rowi is a Māori common name used as a noun in apposition; it is indeclinable and takes no Latin ending. It does not need to agree in gender with Apteryx.
Pronunciation
- AP-ter-iks Three syllables: AP-ter-yx. The penult 'ter' has a short vowel (e) followed by only one consonant (r) before the final syllable, so rule 5 (short penult + two consonants) does not apply, and neither does any long-penult rule. Stress therefore falls on the ANTEPENULT (AP-). The antepenult vowel 'a' is short because it is followed by two consonants (pt). Final -yx is pronounced 'iks' (y = short i, x = ks). Note: 'pt' is not word-initial here (the word begins with 'A'), so both p and t are fully pronounced.
- ROH-wee Two syllables: the word has only two syllables, so the penult is stressed (rule 1). The penult vowel 'o' is followed by a single consonant 'w', giving a long 'oh'. Final -i at the end of a word is a long vowel, pronounced 'ee'.
Commonly: In New Zealand common usage, rowi is often pronounced as in Māori: ROH-wee, with both vowels short and even; the scientific pronunciation is the same.
Other readings
Some sources treat rowi as a genitive of a Latinised surname Rowus, giving 'of Row', but the original description (Tennyson et al. 2003) explicitly states it is the Māori vernacular name.
rowi is a Māori vernacular name for the Okarito brown kiwi, indigenous to the Okarito forest of the South Island of New Zealand; it is not found in the roots dictionary (in_dictionary set to false). The species was formally described by Tennyson, Palma & Barker in 2003; the epithet was chosen to reflect the Māori name already in widespread use. The already-analyzed genus Apteryx ('without wings') requires no change: rowi is in apposition and is indeclinable, so no ending adjustment is needed.