Sugomel
SOO-go-mel
Genus
one who sucks honey; a honey-sucker
Literally: honey-sucker
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| sug- | suck | Latin (sug) | verb stem; root of sugere, 'to suck' |
| -o- | connecting vowel | standard linking vowel joining Latin stem to Greek terminal element; technically a Graeco-Latin hybrid | |
| -mel | honey | Greek (mel, -i, -it, -ito) | terminal element; cognate with Latin mel / mell- |
Sugomel is a single-word genus name coined as a compound noun, treated as grammatically neuter or masculine (depending on the author's intent) in New Latin. The structure is Latin verbal stem sug- ('suck') + connecting vowel -o- + Greek terminal -mel ('honey'), yielding an agent-compound meaning 'honey-sucker.' It describes the nectar-feeding habit of the bird, the Black Honeyeater (Sugomel niger), formerly placed in Myzomela. The name is a Graeco-Latin hybrid: sug- is Latin and -mel is Greek.
Pronunciation
- SOO-go-mel Three syllables: Su-go-mel. Penult 'go' has a short vowel followed by only one consonant (m), so penult stress is NOT triggered. Antepenult stress applies. The antepenult vowel 'u' is followed by a single consonant 'g', giving it a long value (= 'oo').
Other readings
mel could theoretically be read as Greek for 'cheeks' (mel, =a, -o) or 'song/limb/apple' (mel, -o), but 'honey' is overwhelmingly the intended meaning given the bird's ecology.
The Latin cognate mell- (mell, -i, -it: 'honey') would have yielded a pure Latin form, e.g. Sugimell-, but the author chose the Greek spelling.
Sugomel is a Graeco-Latin hybrid compound (Latin sug- + Greek -mel). Such hybrids are permitted under the ICZN but are traditionally discouraged in strict classical formation. The genus was erected for the Black Honeyeater, previously placed in the purely Greek-named Myzomela (myzo- 'suck' + mela 'black'), making Sugomel a partial Latin re-coinage of the same idea. Latin mel (genitive mellis) and Greek mel (genitive melitos) are Indo-European cognates sharing the same core meaning 'honey,' so the root boundary between Latin and Greek is blurred here.