Casuarius casuarius
kas-yoo-AR-ee-us kas-yoo-AR-ee-us
Species (tautonym: genus and specific epithet identical)
the common cassowary
Literally: cassowary-cassowary (the cassowary cassowary)
Casuarius · genus name (masculine, treated as Latin noun)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| casuar- | a cassowary | Malayan (casuar) | Malayan vernacular root borrowed directly into New Latin and given a Latin nominative ending |
| -ius | adjectival/nominal suffix forming a masculine noun | Latin | Latinizes the Malayan stem; gives the word its masculine nominative singular form -us via the -ius ending |
casuarius · specific epithet — noun in apposition (tautonym) repeating the genus name exactly
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| casuar- | a cassowary | Malayan (casuar) | same root as genus name |
| -ius | adjectival/nominal suffix forming a masculine noun | Latin | lowercase per zoological convention for a specific epithet |
The genus name Casuarius is a New Latin coinage that Latinizes the Malayan word for cassowary by appending the Latin masculine noun-forming suffix -ius/-us. The specific epithet casuarius is an exact repetition of the genus name, making this a tautonym (permitted under the ICZN). It functions as a noun in apposition — not an adjective — so no gender agreement is needed. Tautonyms of this kind are often applied to the type species of a genus, as is the case here: Casuarius casuarius (Linnaeus, 1758) is the type species of the genus Casuarius.
Pronunciation
- kas-yoo-AR-ee-us Five syllables: cas-u-ar-i-us. The penult vowel 'i' is short and followed by only one consonant, so stress falls on the antepenult syllable 'ar'.
- kas-yoo-AR-ee-us Identical word; same rule applies.
Commonly: Many English speakers say kaz-yoo-AIR-ee-us (with 'air' for 'ar'), influenced by the familiar English word 'cassowary'.
Other readings
One could parse casu- (Latin, 'chance, fall') + -ar- + -ius, but this produces no coherent meaning and the Malayan origin is well documented; that segmentation is rejected.
The root casuar is attested in the dictionary as Malayan in origin; it entered scientific Latin via early Dutch and Portuguese natural-history writing as casuaris/casuarius. The Latin suffix -arius (of or belonging to; one who deals with) is present in the spelling but is not the operative etymological suffix here — the whole stem casuar- is Malayan, and -ius is simply the Latinizing ending. The -arius reading is coincidental overlap. As a tautonym, this name unambiguously designates the nominate (type) subspecies: the southern cassowary of New Guinea and northeastern Australia.