Cacatua
kak-uh-TOO-uh
Genus
Cockatoo
Literally: Cacatua (a Latinized form of the Malay word for cockatoo)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cacatua | cockatoo (a large crested parrot) | Malay (kakatua) | Latinized as a feminine noun; the Malay word is itself likely onomatopoeic or derived from kaka (parrot) + tua (old/senior), though the exact internal etymology is debated |
Cacatua is a monomial genus name. It is a direct Latinization of the Malay vernacular word kakatua (cockatoo). It is treated as a feminine Latin noun in the first declension (nominative singular -a). There is no species epithet here; the name stands alone at genus rank.
Pronunciation
- kak-uh-TOO-uh Penult rule 4: the penult vowel 'u' followed by a single consonant is long, so stress falls on the penult syllable '-tu-'.
Commonly: kak-uh-TOO-uh (common usage matches the classical pronunciation)
Other readings
Some older sources derive Malay kakatua from kaka (parrot or elder sibling) + tua (old, senior), making the literal sense 'old parrot' or 'elder parrot', but this folk etymology is uncertain and the word may simply be onomatopoeic of the bird's call.
'Cacatua' is not found in the roots dictionary as a combining form; it is treated as a proper Malay vernacular word adopted directly into New Latin taxonomy by Vieillot (1817). The Malay source word is most commonly spelled kakatua or kakaktua in modern Malay/Indonesian; the taxonomic spelling Cacatua is a standardized Latinization. The genus Cacatua (family Cacatuidae) contains the white cockatoos; the name was accepted by the ICZN and is the valid genus name for species such as Cacatua galerita (Sulphur-crested Cockatoo). Because the word is of Malay origin and not Greek or Latin, the normal classical stress rules are applied to the Latinized form: three syllables Ca-ca-tua, with penult 'tu' bearing a long u, giving stress on the penult.