Corapipo
cor-AH-pih-poh
Genus
Raven-manakin (a manakin with crow-like coloration, allied to the genus Pipra)
Literally: crow / raven + (Pipra) manakin
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cora- | a crow, raven | Greek (cora, -c, -co, =x) | stem corac-; here shortened to cora- as a combining form before the second element |
| -pipo | woodpecker; by extension any small bird of the manakin alliance (Pipra / Pipridae) | Greek (pipr) | New Latin genus name Pipra (Bonaparte, 1826) is itself built on Greek pipr- 'woodpecker'; -pipo is a variant combining form used in compound manakin genera (e.g. Lepidothrix, Machaeropterus, Corapipo) to signal membership in the Pipridae |
Corapipo is a compound noun coined in New Latin (Bonaparte, 1854) by joining cora- (Greek 'crow/raven', alluding to the glossy black plumage of the male) with -pipo (from Pipra, the type genus of the manakins). It stands as a noun in apposition and is grammatically treated as feminine in the Pipridae convention.
Pronunciation
- cor-AH-pih-poh Four syllables: cor | ah | pi | po. Penult is 'pi': short vowel followed by a single consonant, no diphthong, no -x/-z → stress falls on the antepenult 'ra/ah'. Final -o is a long vowel (vowel at word-end = long).
Other readings
A minority reading splits cor- (Latin cord- 'heart') + apipo, but this yields no coherent meaning for a bird name and is not supported by the author's intent or the appearance of the birds.
The dictionary also yields cora- from Greek korē 'maiden/pupil', but the black coloration of the male White-ruffed Manakin makes the 'crow/raven' reading far more plausible.
The element -pipo is not found as a standalone entry in the dictionary; it is treated here as a New Latin combining form derived from the genus Pipra (from Greek pipr- 'woodpecker'), which is in the dictionary. Confidence is therefore medium. Corapipo Bonaparte, 1854 contains two species: the White-ruffed Manakin (C. altera) and the White-bibbed Manakin (C. leucorrhoa). The black-and-white male plumage supports the 'crow/raven' reading of cora-. Some older sources accent the name co-RAP-i-po (treating the 'r' as closing the penult to make it heavy), but strict classical syllabification gives cor-AH-pih-poh.