Cotinga
co-TING-uh
Genus
The cotinga — a genus of brilliantly coloured passerine birds of tropical South and Central America
Literally: cotinga (a type of brightly coloured tropical bird)
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotinga | a brightly coloured tropical bird of South America; the name comes from the Tupí language of Brazil | Brazilian (Tupí) (cotinga) | Treated grammatically as a feminine Latin noun in apposition; the name was Latinized directly from the vernacular Tupí word |
Cotinga is a monomial genus name. It is a direct Latinization of the Tupí (Brazilian Indigenous) vernacular word for the bird, adopted into scientific nomenclature by Brisson (1760) and subsequently Linnaeus. It functions as a feminine Latin noun of the first declension (ending -a), treated as a proper name in apposition to any species epithet placed under it.
Pronunciation
- co-TING-uh Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (i) is short but is followed by two consonants (ng), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
Some older sources suggested a derivation from a Galibi (Carib) word rather than Tupí, but Tupí origin is the consensus.
Cotinga is not found in the Greco-Latin roots dictionary; its origin is the Tupí language of Brazil (a South American Indigenous language). Marked [not in dictionary] accordingly. The word entered European scientific literature through French naturalists who encountered the bird in Brazil; Brisson (1760) used 'Cotinga' as a French vernacular name before Linnaeus adopted it as a genus name. As a first-declension Latin noun ending in -a, Cotinga is feminine; species epithets used as adjectives must agree in feminine gender (e.g. Cotinga cotinga, Cotinga maynana).