Metallura
meh-TAL-yoo-ruh
Genus
metal tail — a hummingbird genus named for the iridescent, metallic sheen of the tail feathers
Literally: metal tail
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metal- | metal | Greek (metall, -o) | from Greek μέταλλον (metallon); stem metall- |
| -lura | tail | Greek (ur, -o, =a) | from Greek οὐρά (oura); the connecting vowel -o- contracts and the initial vowel of -ura drops the connecting vowel; feminine ending -a gives the genus its grammatical gender |
Metallura is a compound noun formed from two Greek roots joined directly: metall- (metal) + -ura (tail). The combining vowel is absent because -ura begins with a vowel. The genus name is treated as a feminine Latin noun (nominative singular), following the standard convention that genus names ending in -a are feminine. There is no specific epithet here — Metallura is a genus-level name only.
Pronunciation
- meh-TAL-yoo-ruh Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (a in -tal-) is short but followed by two consonants (ll), so the penult is stressed. The final -a is pronounced 'uh'.
Other readings
A minority reading splits the name as metall- + -ura with an implicit -o- connector elided before the vowel, which gives the same result.
The dictionary confirmed both 'metall' and 'ur' (tail) are present in the dictionary. The spelling Metallura elides the connecting vowel -o- before the vowel-initial root -ura, a standard Greek compounding rule. Metallura is a real hummingbird genus (Gould, 1847), comprising the 'metalltail' hummingbirds of the Andes, named for the brilliantly iridescent tail feathers of the males.