Myornis
my-OR-nis
Genus
mouse bird
Literally: mouse-bird
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| My- | mouse | Greek (mys) | stem: my- from Greek mys/myos |
| -o- | connecting vowel | ||
| -rnis | bird | Greek (ornis) | initial vowel dropped after connecting -o-; ornis is the standard ornithological combining form |
Greek compound noun: myo- (genitive stem of mys, 'mouse') + ornis ('bird'), functioning together as a Latin-treated feminine noun in the nominative singular. The connecting -o- replaces the initial o- of ornis to avoid a double vowel, yielding My-o-rnis rather than *Myo-ornis.
Pronunciation
- my-OR-nis Penult rule 5: penult vowel 'o' is short but followed by two consonants 'rn', so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
A minority reading could take 'my-' from Greek myō (muscle), giving 'muscle-bird', but the standard combining form for muscle is myo- and for mouse is also myo-, so context (typically a small, mouse-like bird) favours 'mouse'.
The tool confirmed 'my, myo' (Greek, mouse) and 'ornith, ornis' (Greek, bird) are both present in the dictionary. 'Myornis' is used for a genus of small antbird (family Thamnophilidae) from South America, consistent with the 'mouse-bird' reading — a tiny, mouse-coloured bird. ornis loses its initial 'o' after the connecting vowel -o- to avoid hiatus (*myo-ornis → myornis).