Machaerirhynchus
ma-KEER-ih-RINK-us
Genus
the sword-billed (one); blade-beak
Literally: sword beak
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| machaer- | a sword, dagger, razor | Greek (macha, -er, -ir) | stem machaer-, combining form machaeri- before a consonant-initial root |
| -i- | connecting vowel | links machaer- to rhynch- | |
| -rhynch- | a snout, beak | Greek (rhynch, -o, =us) | stem rhynch- |
| -us | Latin nominative singular masculine ending | Latin | standard Latinized genus ending |
A compound Greek noun treated as Latin masculine singular. The head is rhynch-us (beak), qualified by machaer-i- (sword) as a noun-noun compound: 'the one with a sword-beak.' No specific epithet is given; this is the genus name alone.
Pronunciation
- ma-KEER-ih-RINK-us Penult 'rink' has a short vowel followed by two consonants (nk), so the penult is stressed (rule 5).
Other readings
chaer-i- (rejoice, young pig) + rhynch-us is theoretically parsable but contradicts the intended ornithological meaning and the attested root machaer-.
'ch' is pronounced as hard 'k' per the pronunciation rules. The connecting vowel -i- (rather than the more common -o-) is used because machaer- already ends in -r; this -i- connector is standard for Greek stems ending in a consonant when the next element begins with a consonant cluster. Machaerirhynchus is a real genus of fantail flycatchers (family Monarchidae) found in New Guinea and northern Australia, named for the laterally flattened, blade-like bill.