Coragyps
KOR-uh-jips
Genus
raven-like vulture (a crow-black vulture)
Literally: raven-vulture
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| cora- | a crow, raven | Greek (cora, -c, -co, =x) | Stem of corax (κόραξ); combining form drops the -x, yielding cora- before the following consonant. The full standalone form is corax (=x). |
| -gyps | a vulture | Greek (gyp, =s) | Greek γύψ (gyps); used here as the head element and terminal form of the compound, giving the word its core biological meaning. A second homographic root gyps,-o means 'chalk' but is irrelevant here. |
Coragyps is a binary Greek compound noun: cora- (stem of corax, 'raven/crow') + gyps ('vulture'). The first element modifies the second: a vulture that resembles a raven (in colour and build). The compound is treated as a masculine noun in zoological Latin, as is conventional for genus names ending in -gyps. There is no specific epithet here — this is the genus name alone, applied to the American Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus).
Pronunciation
- KOR-uh-jips Three syllables: Cor | a | gyps. The penult vowel 'a' is short and followed by only a single consonant (g), so stress retreats to the ANTEPENULT (Cor). Antepenult vowel 'o' is short (followed by single consonant r). C before 'o' = hard 'k'. G before 'y' = soft 'j' (g softens before y). Final -ps: both consonants pronounced.
Other readings
A purely superficial reading might try to split cor- (Latin cor, 'heart') + agyps, but this is phonologically forced and biologically meaningless. The Greek cora- + gyps segmentation is universally accepted.
cora, -c, -co, =x (Greek): 'a crow, raven' — confirmed in dictionary (entry id 1504). gyp, =s (Greek): 'a vulture' — confirmed in dictionary (entry id 2683). Distinguished from the homograph gyps,-o meaning 'chalk' (entry id 2684), which is not relevant here. Coragyps atratus (the American Black Vulture) bears this name in allusion to its jet-black, raven-like plumage, contrasting it with the paler New World vultures of genus Cathartes. The soft-g rule (g → 'j' before y) is critical: the name is KOR-uh-jips, not KOR-uh-gips.