Calandrella
kuh-LAN-drel-uh
Genus
The little lark
Literally: Little lark
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| calandr- | a kind of lark | Greek (calandr, =us) | Greek root adopted into New Latin ornithology; the full form calandrus denotes the calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra) |
| -ella | small; diminutive suffix | Latin (=ell, =a, =um, =us) | Latin diminutive ending, feminine; gives the genus name its grammatical gender (feminine) |
The name is a single Latin-form word built from the Greek root calandr- (lark) plus the Latin diminutive suffix -ella (small), yielding a feminine noun meaning 'little lark.' As a genus name it stands alone; no species epithet is given here. The hybrid Greek + Latin formation is standard practice in 19th-century ornithological nomenclature.
Pronunciation
- kuh-LAN-drel-uh Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (e in -drel-) is short but followed by two consonants (l + l), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
A purely Greek or Latin reading of cal- (beautiful) + andr- (man) + -ella is theoretically possible but is contradicted by the dictionary entry for calandr- as a unitary root meaning 'lark,' and by the genus's content (small larks). That reading should be rejected.
The root calandr- is in the dictionary as a Greek word meaning 'a kind of lark,' later used in New Latin also for a weevil genus; in ornithology the lark meaning is correct. The -ella suffix is Latin, making this a Greek–Latin hybrid diminutive, common in 19th-century taxonomy. Calandrella was erected by Kaup (1829) for the short-toed larks, a group of small Old World larks, so 'little lark' is an apt and intentional name.