Talk:Diocirea microphylla

Etymology of microphylla

Microphylla is botanical Latin. It is derived from Greek. Stearn gives:

• micro-: in Gk. comp., little, small; micranthus, small-flowered; microcarpus, small-fruited; microdontus, with small teeth; microglossus, with small tongues or rays...
• -phyllus; in Gk. comp., leaved; macrophyllus, large-leaved; microphyllus, small-leaved; monophyllus, one-leaved...

A very similar etymology is given in Sharr:

• microphyllus /G micro- small + -phyllus -leaved. ("Small-leaved" and "with small leaves" are synonymous in English.)

But -phyllus is not Greek. Please show me a Greek word ending on -phyllus. Wimpus (talk) 21:02, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

In case you are not able to provide a Greek word on -phyllus, and therefore does not seem to further corroborate your statement that -phyllus would be Greek, you should refrain from adding forms like -phyllus while labelling them as Greek. That the actual Greek form is "-phyllos" in compounds is further corroborated by Clements (1902, p. 21/341):

• If the final term is a noun of the first or second declension (stem in -a or -o, nominative, -ης, -ας, -ος, masculine, -η, -α, -ος, fem. , -ον, neut.) the compound adjective will terminate in -ος, masc. and fem., -ov, neut. ... βαθυ-φυλλος (βαθύς, thick, φύλλον, τό, leaf) thick-leaved, leafy

Wimpus (talk) 00:32, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

Stearn (pg. 255, 4th ed) notes that -ος is transliterated as -us. The Greek ending -ος (os) usually becomes -us when transliterated. So, saying -phyllus is Greek is not wrong; it's just not technically correct. TelosCricket (talk) 01:12, 4 December 2019 (UTC)