Lichenostomus
lie-ken-oh-STOH-mus
Genus
lichen-mouth — referring to the lichen-like facial markings of the honeyeaters originally placed in this genus
Literally: mouth of lichen / lichen-mouth
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lichen- | lichen (a crusty plant) | Greek (leichen, lichen) | stem liken-; connecting vowel -o- follows |
| -o- | connecting vowel | standard Greek connecting vowel between roots | |
| -stomus | mouth; also used of an opening or orifice | Greek (stom, -o, =a) | here used as the terminal element, giving the genus name a neuter Latin form in -us (NL convention); stoma = mouth/opening |
A New Latin compound noun formed from two Greek roots joined by the connecting vowel -o-. 'Lichenostomus' is treated as a masculine Latin noun of the second declension (genus name). The first element, leichen (lichen), acts as a modifier of the head element stomus (mouth/opening), giving the sense 'one with a lichen[-patterned] mouth' or 'lichen-mouth'. The name alludes to the streaked or mottled facial plumage of the honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae) formerly grouped here, which resembles lichen on bark.
Pronunciation
- lie-ken-oh-STOH-mus Antepenult stress: the penult vowel (-o- in -sto-) is short and followed by only one consonant before a single following vowel-initial syllable; wait — let us count syllables: Li-chen-o-sto-mus (5 syllables). Penult = 'sto', its vowel is short and followed by one consonant then final -us, so we look to see if penult is long: -sto- has a short o followed by single consonant m, so stress falls on the antepenult = 'o' (the connecting vowel syllable)? Re-count: Li-che-no-sto-mus. Antepenult = 'no', penult = 'sto' (short o + single consonant), so stress goes to antepenult: li-che-NO-sto-mus. However common ornithological usage favors lie-ken-oh-STOH-mus; both are noted.
Commonly: lie-KEN-oh-stoh-mus (common usage among English-speaking ornithologists)
Other readings
leichen (G) could theoretically be read as 'one who licks' (leichein = to lick), giving 'lick-mouth'; this reading is much less likely given the ornithological context and the standard use of leichen for lichen in zoological nomenclature
The dictionary and a dictionary lookup confirmed 'leichen/lichen' (Greek, lichen) and 'stom' (Greek, mouth) are both present in the dictionary. Lichenostomus was long used for a large assemblage of Australasian honeyeaters (Meliphagidae); molecular work since the 2000s has split the genus extensively, retaining only a handful of species under this name. The terminal -us follows New Latin convention for forming a masculine genus name from a Greek compound, even though the Greek noun stoma is neuter; this is standard zoological practice. Stress analysis detail: syllables are Li-che-no-sto-mus (5). Penult = 'sto' — short vowel o, followed by single consonant m, so penult is not long by position or quantity → stress the antepenult = 'no', giving lie-ken-OH-sto-mus. Common ornithological pronunciation shifts stress to the penult (lie-ken-oh-STOH-mus), treating -sto- as a recognizable root; both are encountered in practice.