Eurillas
yoo-RIL-us
Genus
the small broad-billed one; referring to the broad, rounded bill characteristic of greenbuls
Literally: little broad one
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| eur- | broad, wide (also: east wind, southeast) | Greek (eur, -o) | The cognate form eury carries the same core sense 'broad/wide'; the -y is absorbed into the following suffix |
| -illas | small (diminutive suffix) | Latin (-ill, =a, =um, =us) | Feminine nominative singular diminutive ending; fixes grammatical gender of genus as feminine |
Eurillas is a genus name formed as a single Latin noun of feminine gender. The Greek root eur- (broad/wide) is combined with the Latin diminutive suffix -illas (small, feminine nominative singular), making this a Greco-Latin hybrid. The word stands alone as a substantive; there is no species epithet to agree with it here. The diminutive alludes to the compact build or broad bill of these small passerines.
Pronunciation
- yoo-RIL-us Penult stressed: the penult vowel i is short but is followed by two consonants (ll), satisfying Rule 5 (short vowel + geminate consonant = stress on penult)
Other readings
eu- (Greek: good, well) + -rillas: less preferred because -rillas has no clean dictionary parallel as a standalone suffix; the eur- + -illas split keeps both segments fully attested.
Eurillas Bonaparte, 1857 is a genus of greenbuls (family Pycnonotidae) from sub-Saharan Africa; Bonaparte coined many 19th-century bird genera using Greco-Latin hybrids of this kind. The alternative reading eu- (good/well) + -rillas is possible but leaves the segment -rillas without a dictionary-attested root; eur- + -illas is preferred. The final -as is treated as a short vowel (not the Greek -as diphthong), consistent with the Latin diminutive paradigm -illa, -illae.