Phlegopsis
fleg-OP-sis
Genus
the one with a fiery (burning) appearance
Literally: burning (fiery) appearance
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phleg- | burn, flame | Greek (phleg, -eth, -ethon, -o) | Combining stem phleg-; the root family also gives phlegm (originally 'inflammatory humor') and Phlegethon (the mythical river of fire) |
| -o- | connecting vowel linking two Greek stems | Standard Greek connective -o- | |
| -psis | appearance, sight | Greek (opsi, -o) | Terminal form of opsis (ὄψις); the initial o- merges with the connecting vowel so the written form is -opsis = -o- + -psis |
Phlegopsis is a compound of two Greek roots joined by the connecting vowel -o-. The head element -opsis, acting as a feminine Greek noun in apposition, governs the gender of the genus (feminine). The modifier phleg- ('burning, fire') describes the striking bare red orbital skin of these antbirds, giving the whole name the sense of 'fiery-faced one'. The name was coined by Philip Sclater in 1858 for a genus of Neotropical antbirds (family Thamnophilidae).
Pronunciation
- fleg-OP-sis Penult rule 5: the penult vowel ('o' in '-op-') is short but is followed by two consonants (p + s), so the penult is stressed.
Other readings
A minority reading could parse the word as phlegm- (inflammation/mucus) + -opsis, but the vivid bare red skin around the eye strongly supports phleg- (burn/fire) rather than the medical root phlegm-.
Phlegopsis is a small genus of antbirds found in Amazonian South America. The name alludes to the bare, vividly red-orange or red periorbital skin that gives these birds a 'burning' or fiery-faced look. The root phleg- belongs to the same Greek family as Phlegethon (the fiery river of Hades) and phlogiston; it is distinct from the medical root phlegm- (phlegma, 'mucus/inflammation'), which is a secondary, cooled meaning of the same Proto-Greek fire-word. The suffix -opsis (appearance, likeness) is extremely common in bird genus names coined in the 19th century, e.g. Chloropsis, Turdopsis, Lafresnayopsis. Initial ph- is pronounced as 'f'; initial silent-letter rule does not apply here (ph is a digraph for /f/, not a cluster with a silent first letter).