Psittadae
SIT-uh-dee
Family (but see notes)
the parrot family
Literally: family of parrots
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psittac- | a parrot | Greek (psitt, -ac, =acus) | stem psittac- from Greek psittakos; the -c- is absent in the spelling as given — almost certainly a scribal or typographic omission (correct form: Psittacidae) |
| -idae | standard suffix for animal family names | Latin plural ending grafted onto a Greek stem; signals a zoological family |
Family names in zoology are formed by appending -idae to the stem of the type genus. Here the type genus is Psittacus (Greek psittakos, 'parrot'); the correct stem is psittac-, giving Psittacidae. The name as written, Psittadae, omits the -c- of the stem and the initial -i- of -idae, yielding a contracted but still transparent form. No epithet is present; the name stands alone as a uninomial family name.
Pronunciation
- SIT-uh-dee Three syllables: PSIT-ta-dae. Initial p of ps- is silent (initial ps rule). Penult 'ta' has a short vowel followed by a single consonant then a vowel, so it is light; stress therefore falls on the antepenult (first syllable). Antepenult vowel 'i' is short (followed by two consonants, tt). Final -ae = 'ee'.
Other readings
Psittacidae — the standard, correctly formed spelling used in current taxonomy for the true-parrot family
Psittadae as written is almost certainly a misspelling of Psittacidae (the valid ICZN family name for true parrots, Linnaeus 1758). The -c- of the stem psittac- and the -i- of the suffix -idae have both been dropped. The dictionary form is psitt-, -ac-, =acus (Greek), meaning 'a parrot'. The full stem is psittac-. Because initial ps- follows the silent-first-consonant rule, the word is pronounced exactly as if it began with a simple s-. The match for -ad- (Latin 'pertaining to') at position 5 is a false cut; the correct segmentation is psittac- + -idae, not psitt- + -ad- + -ae.