Eurylaimus
yoor-ih-LAY-mus
Genus
the broad-throated one
Literally: broad throat
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eury- | broad, wide | Greek (eury) | combining form of Greek εὐρύς (eurys); used as prefix before consonants |
| -laimus | throat | Greek (laim, =us) | from Greek λαιμός (laimos); -us is the Latinized nominative singular ending making this a masculine noun |
Eurylaimus is a compound noun formed from two Greek elements joined directly (no connecting vowel needed because the first element ends in a vowel). The whole word is treated as a masculine Latin second-declension noun (nominative singular -us) functioning as a genus name. The literal sense is 'broad throat', referring to the wide gape characteristic of broadbill birds.
Pronunciation
- yoor-ih-LAY-mus Penult rule 4: the penult syllable '-lai-' contains the diphthong 'ai' (= long 'ay'), so the penult is stressed.
Commonly: yoor-ih-LAY-mus (no significant divergence in common usage)
Other readings
eury- + -laimos: same segmentation, simply retaining the Greek nominative -os instead of the Latinized -us; the meaning is identical.
Eurylaimus is the type genus of the family Eurylaimidae (broadbills), passerine birds of South and Southeast Asia named for their characteristically wide, flattened bills and broad gape. The diphthong 'eu' at the start is pronounced 'yoor' in English scientific usage (as in 'European'). No connecting vowel appears between eury- and -laimus because eury- already ends in a vowel; inserting -o- would be incorrect.