Plegadis chihi
PLEG-uh-dis KY-eye
Species
the chihi ibis (Plegadis = 'sickle-bird,' referring to the curved bill; chihi = Indigenous name for the bird)
Literally: sickle-bird chihi
Plegadis · genus
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| pleg- | a blow, strike; a sickle | Greek (pleg, -a, -e, -i, =ia, -o) | core root; the sense 'sickle' is the one operative here |
| -ad- | Greek noun-stem–forming suffix, creating a concrete noun from the root | Greek | same suffix seen in Ilias→Iliad-, dryas→dryad-; not a separate dictionary entry but a regular Greek morpheme |
| -is | Latinized Greek nominative singular ending | Greek | the full Greek word is πληγάς, gen. πληγάδος (plegás, plegádos); Latinized by taking the genitive stem plegad- and adding -is as the nominative |
chihi · specific epithet
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| chihi | a native Mexican name for this ibis, probably onomatopoeic of the bird's call | Indigenous Mexican (likely Nahuatl or related) | used as a noun in apposition to the genus; not a Greek or Latin construction; no dictionary form available |
Plegadis is a Latinized Greek feminine noun (genitive plegad-is) used as the genus name, meaning 'sickle-bird' (alluding to the decurved bill). The specific epithet chihi is an Indigenous vernacular name used as a noun in apposition — it does not inflect and needs no gender agreement with the genus.
Pronunciation
- PLEG-uh-dis Antepenult stressed: the penult vowel 'a' is short and followed by only one consonant (d), making the penult light, so stress retreats to the antepenult 'Ple-'.
- KY-eye Two-syllable word: stress falls on the penult (rule 1). ch = hard 'k' (classical rule); each 'i' is in an open syllable and is therefore long ('eye'). Both syllables sound identical in classical pronunciation: KY-eye.
Commonly: PLEG-uh-dis CHEE-hee (common English usage treats 'ch' as in 'church' and 'i' as 'ee')
Other readings
Some sources treat chihi as purely onomatopoeic (echoing the bird's high-pitched call) rather than a full lexical word from any single language; either reading is consistent with a noun-in-apposition epithet.
chihi is not found in the roots dictionary; identified from general ornithological knowledge as an Indigenous Mexican vernacular name for the white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi), possibly onomatopoeic. The epithet chihi is a noun in apposition and does not change its ending to agree with the genus gender — no modification needed. Common pronunciation 'CHEE-hee' treats the digraph 'ch' as the English affricate and 'i' as 'ee'; strict classical pronunciation gives 'KY-eye' (ch = k, i = long). The name was coined by Vieillot (1817), who transcribed the local Mexican name used for this bird.