Rallicula
ral-ih-KYOO-luh
Genus
The little rail — a diminutive of Rallus, aptly describing these small, secretive forest rails of New Guinea
Literally: A little rail
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rall- | The rail; a marsh or forest bird; derived from Old French râle, an imitation of the bird's rasping call | New Latin (rallus) | Stem of the established rail genus Rallus; the -us ending is dropped to attach the diminutive suffix |
| -icula | Small, little | Latin (-icul, =a, =um, =us) | Feminine nominative singular diminutive suffix; agrees with the feminine gender of the genus |
Rallicula is a Latin feminine noun in the nominative singular, formed by appending the standard Latin diminutive suffix -icula to the stem Rall- of the genus Rallus. As a genus name it stands alone. The construction is a common New Latin device for naming a smaller or allied genus — literally 'a little Rallus'.
Pronunciation
- ral-ih-KYOO-luh Penult stress, Rule 4: the penult syllable -cu- contains the vowel u followed by a single consonant l, and most penults whose vowel is u take penult stress.
Commonly: Ornithologists often say ral-IK-yoo-luh, shifting stress to the antepenult by treating the -ic- cluster as heavy; both forms are current.
Other readings
Ralli- + -cula (suffix -cul, =a, =um, =us, also meaning 'little') yields the same translation; -icula is simply the fuller, more specific diminutive form and is the standard reading.
The root rallus is not present in the core roots dictionary; it was found via the user-supplied dictionary entry and general knowledge of New Latin ornithological nomenclature. Confidence is high because Rallus has been the standard genus name for rails since Brisson 1760 and the derivation from Old French râle is well established. Rallicula was established by Sharpe in 1893 for the forest rails of New Guinea; the diminutive name reflects their small size relative to typical Rallus rails.