Tolmomyias
tol-moh-MY-ee-as
Genus
the bold flycatcher
Literally: bold / daring fly-catcher
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tolmo- | boldness, daring, audacity | Greek (tolma, tolmē) | stem tolmo-, from Greek τόλμα (tolma); serves as the first element of the compound |
| -o- | connecting vowel | standard Greek connecting vowel between compound elements | |
| -myias | a fly; used in ornithology as a suffix for flycatchers | Greek (myia, -o) | -myias is the nominative singular form used as a generic ending, from Greek μυῖα (myia), fly; cf. Myiobius, Myiarchus |
Tolmomyias is a masculine Greek compound noun treated as Latin (nominative singular) for nomenclatural purposes. The first element tolmo- (boldness, daring) modifies the head noun -myias (flycatcher / fly-catcher), so the construction is roughly 'bold fly-catcher'. The genus was erected by Ridgway (1905) for certain broad-billed tyrant-flycatchers of South America.
Pronunciation
- tol-moh-MY-ee-as Antepenult rule: the penult vowel is 'i' in '-myias' (two syllables from the end: MY-ee), with the diphthong 'ia' making the penult heavy; stress falls on the penult syllable MY. Breaking into four syllables: tol-mo-MY-ee-as — stress on the third syllable (MY), which is the antepenult of a five-syllable word; the penult 'ee' is short and followed by only one consonant, so antepenult stress applies. Standard ornithological usage stresses MY.
Other readings
Some authors parse tolmo- directly from τολμάω (tolmaō, 'to dare, to be bold') rather than from the noun τόλμα, but the meaning is the same.
'tolmo-' (Greek τόλμα, boldness) was not found as an entry in the roots dictionary; identified from general knowledge of Greek with high confidence. 'myia' was confirmed in the dictionary as the Greek root for 'fly', widely used in ornithological genus names for flycatchers. Tolmomyias is a genus of broad-billed tyrant-flycatchers (family Tyrannidae) found in Central and South America; species include T. sulphurescens (Yellow-olive Flycatcher). IPA note: the sequence -myias in Greek-derived ornithological names is conventionally rendered ˈmaɪəs in anglicized pronunciation.