Lamprolaima
lam-pro-LY-muh
Genus
the shining-throated one
Literally: brilliant throat
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| lampro- | brilliant, clear | Greek (lampr, -o) | Greek adjective stem lampro-, the standard combining form of lampros; the -o- is the combining vowel |
| -laim- | the throat, gullet | Greek (laim, -o, =us) | stem laim- appears here without its combining vowel -o-, directly before the feminine ending |
| -a | feminine nominative singular ending | New Latin | standard New Latin ending giving the genus grammatically feminine gender |
Lamprolaima is a two-root Greek compound: lampro- (brilliant) + laim- (throat), closed with the New Latin feminine nominative ending -a. The whole word is a noun in apposition serving as the genus name. No epithet is present because the user supplied only the genus. The name alludes to the brilliant, iridescent gorget of the hummingbird placed in this genus (the single species is the Garnet-throated Hummingbird, Lamprolaima rhipidura).
Pronunciation
- lam-pro-LY-muh Four syllables: lam | pro | lai | ma. The penult syllable 'lai' contains the diphthong ai (= long i, 'eye'). Rule: stress the penult when it contains a diphthong. Hence lam-pro-LY-muh; final -a is 'uh'.
Other readings
An alternative segmentation reading lamp- (shine, torch) + ro- + -laima is theoretically possible but far weaker; lampro- as a unit (Greek lampros, brilliant) is the standard combining form and the better fit.
lampr, -o (Greek): confirmed in dictionary as 'Brilliant, clear'. laim, -o, =us (Greek): confirmed in dictionary as 'The throat, gullet'. The final -a is a New Latin grammatical ending, not a separate dictionary root. Lamprolaima is a monotypic hummingbird genus (family Trochilidae); the name perfectly captures the dazzling iridescent throat patch of its sole species.