Starnoenas
star-NEE-nas
Genus
the wild pigeon (recalling the old English bird name 'starn')
Literally: bird-pigeon
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| starn | a kind of bird | Middle English | head element; joined directly to the following vowel-initial Greek terminal without a connecting vowel |
| oenas | a wild pigeon | Greek (oen, -a) | Greek οἰνάς (oinas), nominative singular; used as the terminal element naming the bird as a dove or wild pigeon |
Starnoenas is a compound noun used as a genus name. The Middle English stem 'starn' (a bird) is prefixed directly to the Greek terminal element 'oenas' (a wild pigeon), no connecting vowel being needed because 'starn' ends in a consonant and 'oenas' begins with a vowel. The construction is a hybrid (Middle English + Greek), not uncommon in early 19th-century ornithological nomenclature. As a genus name it is treated as a Latin feminine noun.
Pronunciation
- star-NEE-nas Penult contains the diphthong 'oe' (= long e, 'ee'), so the penult is stressed (Rule 2: penult contains a diphthong).
Other readings
The root oen- also means 'wine' in Greek (oen, -o, =us), giving an alternative literal reading of 'starn-wine-bird', but the dedicated ornithological term oenas (wild pigeon) is overwhelmingly the better fit for a dove genus.
The name is a deliberate hybrid of Middle English 'starn' (a kind of bird) and Greek 'oenas' (a wild pigeon); both roots are confirmed in the dictionary. Starnoenas is the monotypic genus of the Blue-headed Quail-Dove (Starnoenas cyanocephala), described by Bonaparte in 1838.