Petrophassa
pet-roh-FAS-uh
Genus
rock partridge (a ground-dwelling pigeon of rocky terrain)
Literally: rock partridge
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petro- | rock, stone | Greek (petr, -o) | combining form petr- + connecting vowel -o- |
| -phassa | ringdove, wood-pigeon | Greek (phassa) | terminal element; Greek φάσσα (phassa), a dove or pigeon |
The genus name is a single compound noun formed from two Greek elements: petr(o)- (rock) + phassa (pigeon/dove). It functions as a Latin feminine noun (genus names are treated as Latin). The compound means 'rock pigeon' or 'stone dove', describing the bird's habitat among rocky outcrops in Australia.
Pronunciation
- pet-roh-FAS-uh Antepenult rule: the penult vowel (-as-) is short and followed by only two consonants (ss, a geminate counting as two), making the penult heavy — actually, penult 'phas' contains short 'a' followed by ss (two consonants), so penult is stressed by rule 5 (short vowel + two consonants). Stress falls on the penult: -PHAS-.
Other readings
Petro- could conceivably relate to the personal name Petros/Peter, but the habitat-descriptive reading (rock + pigeon) is overwhelmingly more appropriate for this genus of rock-pigeons.
Petrophassa is a genus of Australian rock-pigeons (family Columbidae), containing species such as P. albipennis (white-quilled rock-pigeon) and P. rufipennis (chestnut-quilled rock-pigeon). The root phassa (Greek φάσσα) was confirmed in the dictionary as meaning 'ringdove / wood-pigeon'. The root petr-, petro- (Greek πέτρα, rock) was confirmed in the dictionary. Final -a is pronounced as a short 'uh' (schwa) per the vowel rules for terminal -a.