Myiopsitta
my-ee-op-SIT-uh
Genus
the parrot that (moves like) a fly; the fly-parrot
Literally: fly-parrot
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| myio- | a fly (the insect, Musca) | Greek (myi, =a, -o) | combining form of myia; the -o- is the standard Greek connecting vowel fused into the stem |
| psitta | a parrot | Greek (psitt, -ac, =acus) | psittakos/psittacus truncated to the feminine stem psitta-, used as the head element; the -ps- is in the interior of the compound so both p and s are fully pronounced |
A Greek compound formed from two nouns: myio- (fly) as a modifier + psitta (parrot) as the head. The whole word is treated as a Latin feminine noun (genus names ending in -a are feminine under ICZN). The construction follows the common ornithological pattern of myio- as a prefix for small active birds, though literally it means 'fly'. Bonaparte coined Myiopsitta in 1854 for the monk parakeet.
Pronunciation
- my-ee-op-SIT-uh Penult rule 5: the penult vowel (i in 'sit') is short but is followed by two consonants (tt), making the penult heavy; stress therefore falls on the penult.
Commonly: my-oh-SIT-uh (the medial -i- is often swallowed, collapsing myio- to two syllables)
Other readings
A minority reading splits the word as myio- + p + sitta, treating sitta (Greek: nuthatch) as the head and the 'p' as an unexplained intrusion. This is far less plausible because psittacus (parrot) yields the well-attested truncated stem psitta- in many zoological compounds, and the monk parakeet is clearly a parrot, not a nuthatch.
The prefix myio- is extremely productive in 19th-century ornithological genus names (e.g. Myiarchus, Myiobius, Myiodynastes). In all of them the literal meaning 'fly' is secondary; the prefix evokes small, quick, aerial birds — especially flycatchers — rather than flies per se. The monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is neither a flycatcher nor a nuthatch, so Bonaparte appears to have used myio- as a general ornithological qualifier meaning 'bird-like / active' combined with psitta (parrot) to yield 'the active little parrot.' The 'p' of 'psitta' is NOT silent here. The rule for initial ps- (first letter silent) applies only when ps- opens the entire word. Here ps- begins the second element of the compound and is therefore interior to the full word, so both p and s are pronounced: /ps/. All roots confirmed in the dictionary.