Cairina moschata
ky-REE-nuh mos-KAH-tuh
Species
The Cairo duck — the Muscovy duck, 'having musk'
Literally: Of Cairo + furnished with musk
Cairina · genus
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cair- | Cairo, the capital of Egypt; from Arabic al-Qāhira, 'the Victorious' | Arabic (place name, Latinized) (Cairo (al-Qāhira)) | Toponymic stem formed by dropping the final -o of 'Cairo' before the Latin suffix; not found as a root in the dictionary |
| -ina | Likeness; belonging to | Latin (-inus, =ina, =inum) | Standard Latin adjectival suffix; feminine form -ina agrees with an implied feminine noun (avis, 'bird') or serves as a substantivized feminine genus name |
moschata · specific epithet
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| mosch- | Musk; a young animal | Greek (mosch, -o, =us) | Stem used here in the sense of 'musk'; the animal is sometimes called the Musk Duck because it was (incorrectly) thought to have a musky odour |
| -ata | Furnished with, provided with, having | Latin (-atus, =a, =um) | Standard Latin adjectival suffix; feminine form -ata agrees with Cairina (feminine genus name) |
Cairina is a feminine Latin genus name (place-name stem Cair- + adjectival suffix -ina, substantivized as a feminine noun). The specific epithet moschata is a Latin adjective in the feminine nominative singular (-ata), agreeing in gender with Cairina. Together: 'the Cairo(-related) [bird] furnished with musk.'
Pronunciation
- ky-REE-nuh Three syllables: Cai-ri-na. Penult is 'ri'. The penult vowel 'i' is followed by a single consonant (n) before the final vowel -a, so it is long (rule 4). Stress falls on the penult. Final -a = 'uh'.
- mos-KAH-tuh Three syllables: mos-cha-ta. The ending -ata is listed as a penult-lengthening ending (rule 4), so stress falls on the penult 'cha'. ch = 'k'; final -a = 'uh'.
Other readings
mosch- could in principle be read as Greek moschos 'a young animal / calf', giving 'the young animal from Cairo', but the musk reading is the universally accepted one for this species
The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) is neither from Moscow nor reliably musky; both the genus name (Cairo) and the epithet (musk) reflect early European misattributions about its origin and scent. The -ata suffix is a productive Latin adjectival ending not listed as an independent entry in the dictionary; it is here treated as the feminine form of -atus (well-attested in classical Latin), hence marked in_dictionary: false. Cairina is reused from the saved analysis unchanged; its feminine gender governs the feminine ending -ata of the epithet.