Setophaga graciae
seh-TOF-uh-guh GRAY-see-ee
Species
Grace's moth-eater (Grace's Warbler)
Literally: moth-eater of Grace
Setophaga · genus name
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| seto- | a moth | Greek (set, -o) | combining form seto- (set + connecting vowel -o-) |
| phag- | eat | Greek (phag, =e, -o) | root phag-; the full combining form is phago- |
| -a | feminine singular nominative ending (New Latin genus name) | Latinized feminine ending giving the genus grammatical gender |
graciae · specific epithet
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graci- | Grace (a personal name) | Latin (Gracia) | Latinized form of the given name Grace; the -ae ending is the Latin feminine genitive singular, meaning 'of Grace', forming a possessive epithet |
| -ae | genitive singular feminine ending ('of') | Latin | Standard Latin feminine genitive; agrees with a feminine proper noun of the first declension |
Setophaga is a feminine New Latin genus name (nominative singular). The specific epithet graciae is a Latin genitive of the proper feminine name Gracia (Grace), meaning 'of Grace'. It is a possessive genitive, not an adjective, so it does not change to agree in gender with the genus; it remains graciae regardless of the genus's gender. The bird was named by Elliott Coues in 1865 in honor of his sister Grace Darling Coues.
Pronunciation
- seh-TOF-uh-guh Four syllables: se-to-pha-ga. The penult 'pha' has a short vowel followed by a single consonant, so stress falls on the antepenult 'to'. Antepenult vowel 'o' is short (single consonant follows, no qualifying diphthong or long-vowel pattern).
- GRAY-see-ee Three syllables: gra-ci-ae. The diphthong -ae at the end = 'ee'; the penult 'ci' ends in a vowel with no following consonant cluster, so the penult is light and stress falls on the antepenult 'gra'. Antepenult vowel 'a' is long (followed by a single consonant and then two vowels: -ia-e).
Commonly: seh-TOF-uh-guh GRAY-see-eye (common usage in North American birding)
Other readings
graciae could theoretically derive from Latin gracilis ('slender') via a hypothetical *gracia, but this is not standard Latin and is contradicted by the historical record; the possessive reading is definitive.
Setophaga graciae is Grace's Warbler, a New World wood-warbler (family Parulidae) of pine forests in the American Southwest and Mexico. graciae is a Latin genitive proper noun; no ending change is needed to agree with the genus because possessive genitives are invariable. The dictionary matches for aci- ('a point, barb') and -ia ('condition') inside graciae are positional coincidences; the word is a personal name genitive, not a compound of those roots. The common English pronunciation GRAY-see-eye treats -ae as a diphthong /aɪ/ (anglicized Latin); the classical/restored pronunciation GRAY-see-ee treats -ae as long ē, which the pronunciation rules above follow.