Mergellus
mer-JEL-us
Genus
The little diving bird
Literally: A little diver
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| merg- | A diver; from mergere, to dive or dip | Latin (=mergus) | Stem of classical Latin mergus, a diving seabird; -us dropped before the diminutive suffix |
| -ellus | Diminutive suffix | Latin (-ellus, =ella, =ellum) | Marks the whole word as masculine; produces a new masculine Latin noun |
Mergellus is a single masculine Latin noun formed by attaching the diminutive suffix -ellus directly to the stem merg- of the classical Latin noun mergus ('a diver'). The geminate -ll- is characteristic of this suffix. As a genus name it stands alone; the species epithet (e.g. albellus) would agree with it in gender (masculine).
Pronunciation
- mer-JEL-us Penult rule 5: the penult vowel e is short and followed by two consonants (ll), so the penult is stressed. The g is soft (j) before e by the c/g-before-e rule.
Commonly: mer-GEL-us is also heard in ornithological usage, applying a hard g as if it were a geminate Latin stop rather than applying the soft-g-before-e rule.
Other readings
One could parse merg- as the bare verbal root (mergere, 'to dive/dip') rather than the nominal stem of mergus; the meaning is identical either way.
The dictionary contains both the verbal root merg ('dive, dip') and the standalone noun form =mergus ('a diver'); the noun form is the more direct source of the genus name. The diminutive suffix -ellus is confirmed in the dictionary both as a standalone form (=ellus, meaning 'small') and explicitly as a diminutive suffix (-ellus, =ella, =ellum). Mergellus albellus (Smew) is the smallest member of the merganser tribe, making this diminutive name particularly apt.