Trogoniformes (7 Viewers)

[Acanthis]

Not entirely. There are quite a few plants and fungi with hyphenated species epithets and even the zoological code allows a few exceptions.

Andrena w-scripta	Polygonia c-album

Article 32.5.2.4.3. If the first element is a Latin letter used to denote descriptively a character of the taxon, it must be retained and connected to the remainder of the name by a hyphen.

My favourites are those coccinellids with a number replacing a great, long latin mouthful of a name eg Subcoccinella 24-punctata for Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata😁

 

[Acanthis]

I think honestly its the hyphen thing...just looks weird to me. If it was just Amazon Violaceous Trogon I would probably be more okay with it. At least by using the IOC I can ignore silly hyphens

Also a relatively unfamiliar 4-syllable word like violaceous is decidedly unhelpful.
Names are best kept simple, apt, and memorable IMO.
I've seen a few trogons but only one with a name I remember - Resplendent Quetzal, for obvious reasons!😊

 

[Acanthis]

By using a binomial system, you will get rid of that problematic hyphen. Ciao bambino hyphen

Are the French names any less forgettable?

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Are the French names any less forgettable?

I don't know if they are more forgettable or less forgettable, however, and obviously my opinion is biased due to my language and habits, their construction is simpler: genus + species (the reason is that the French names are modeled on the Latin construction). A three-level name, like Amazonian Violaceous Trogon, gives the impression that we are dealing with a subspecies. So, imagine a subspecies within the Amazonian Violaceous Trogon, we would end up with four or five words in a row, which can overburden the name.

 

[Xenospiza]

Are the French names any less forgettable?

Non...
Trogon caligatus – Trogon pattu
Trogon ramonianus – Trogon d'Amazonie
Trogon violaceus – Trogon violacé

I think "... Blue Trogon" would have been less of a mouthful.

 

[MJB]

Also a relatively unfamiliar 4-syllable word like violaceous is decidedly unhelpful.
Names are best kept simple, apt, and memorable IMO.
I've seen a few trogons but only one with a name I remember - Resplendent Quetzal, for obvious reasons!😊

Surely violaceous has five syllables?
MJB

 

[pbjosh]

Surely violaceous has five syllables?
MJB

I’ve never heard it pronounced with more than 4.

For you is outrageous pronounced out-rage-ous or out-rag-e-ous?

 

[Acanthis]

Surely violaceous has five syllables?
MJB

Do you know, I've never heard it spoken!
It may well have 5 syllables..LOL

 

[MJB]

I’ve never heard it pronounced with more than 4.

For you is outrageous pronounced out-rage-ous or out-rag-e-ous?

True, many multi-syllable words are sufficiently slurred when spoken to lose a syllable in pronunciation. I certainly consider that outrageous has five, simply because I always see the shape of the word in print. That also helps considerably in proof-reading and copy-editing (in terms of noting spelling anomalies).
MJB