Batrachostomus
buh-TRACK-oh-STO-mus
Genus
The frog-mouthed one — referring to the bird's enormous, wide, gaping mouth, which strongly resembles the broad gape of a frog
Literally: frog-mouth
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| batrach- | a frog | Greek (batrach, -o, =us) | stem of βάτραχος (batrachos) |
| -o- | connecting vowel | standard Greek compounding vowel | |
| -stom- | a mouth | Greek (stom, =a, -ato, -o) | stem of στόμα (stoma) |
| -us | nominative singular ending | Latin | marks masculine gender in the latinized genus name |
Both roots are Greek, joined by the standard Greek connecting vowel -o-, giving batrach-o-stom-us. A Latin masculine nominative singular ending -us is applied to form the genus name. The word is a compound noun used as a genus name in apposition; there is no species epithet present.
Pronunciation
- buh-TRACK-oh-STO-mus Penult stress: the penult vowel -o- in -sto- is short but is followed by two consonants (m and s), making the syllable heavy; stress therefore falls on the penult.
ch is pronounced as hard k per pronunciation rules. The -us ending is a standard Latin nominative masculine termination routinely applied to latinized Greek genus names; it is listed in the dictionary as a cross-reference suffix.