Haematortyx
hee-muh-TOR-tiks
Genus
the blood-red quail; the crimson-headed partridge
Literally: blood quail
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| haemat- | blood | Greek (haem, =a, -ato, -o) | stem of haima (αἷμα); combining form haemato- |
| -o- | connecting vowel, fused with the initial vowel of ortyx | the -o- of haemato- and the initial o- of ortyx merge into one letter at the junction | |
| -ortyx | a quail | Greek (orty, -g, =x) | nominative singular ὄρτυξ; stem ortyg-; head noun determining grammatical gender (feminine) |
Haematortyx is a Greek compound noun used as a genus name and treated as grammatically feminine in Latin taxonomy, following the gender of ortyx. The combining form haemato- (blood, blood-red) modifies the head noun -ortyx (quail). The connecting -o- of haemato- fuses with the initial o- of ortyx so no letters are added or dropped. The name is a noun in apposition, not an adjective, and stands alone as the genus.
Pronunciation
- hee-muh-TOR-tiks Penult stress, Rule 5: the penult syllable -tor- has a short vowel (o) followed by two consonants (r+t), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
A strict reading could split haema- + tortyx, taking tort- (Latin: twisted) + -yx, but this is implausible: tort- is Latin while the rest is Greek, and ortyx is a well-established Greek dictionary form for quail that fits perfectly.
The genus contains a single species, the Crimson-headed Partridge (Haematortyx sanguiniceps) of Borneo; the name alludes to its vivid crimson head. The ae diphthong in Hae- is pronounced as long e ("ee") per standard pronunciation rules. ortyx (ὄρτυξ) strictly means quail in classical Greek but is used broadly in ornithological nomenclature for partridges and related galliform birds.