[Tweeters] bird names --- ʻAkohekohe name

[HAL MICHAEL]

Per H. Douglas Pratt in The Hawaiian Honeycreepers Drepanidinae; part of Bird Families of the World.
 
On page 264, under Etymology:
 
"Hawaiian name often considered simply onomatopoeic (Berlin and VanGelder 1999), but that does not explain why early naturalists create and English name for this sp. alone when valid Hawaiian one available. Hawaiians had sense of humour and loved puns; name includes kohe= vagina (Pukui and Elbert 1971), allusion to resemblance of bird's crest to pubic hair, apparently too much for Victorian sensibilities".  
 
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
 
 
Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net
 
 


> On 11/25/2023 5:34 PM PST Steve Hampton <stevechampton at gmail.com> wrote:

>  

>  

> The "Birds of the World" species accounts offer detailed information on just about every aspect of every species. Access to this online resource is complimentary with membership in the Washington Ornithological Society. From the account for ʻAkohekohe:

>  

> "'Äkohekohe (pronounced "ah ko-hay ko-hay"), is derived from one of the calls it commonly gives from the treetops of the rain forest." 

>  

>  

>  

>  

>  

>  

>  

> 

> On Sat, Nov 25, 2023 at 5:17 PM Laurel Parshall <knasnan at gmail.com mailto:knasnan at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

> > Many thought provoking views and varying points along our individual 'perches' of our life spectrums. 

> > Based on Hal Michael's mention of the Hawaiian name Akohekohe selected for the previous English used Crested Honeycreeper, with the meaning being female genitalia, what do we know about how that name came to be used? Was it merely descriptive, derogatory or empowering? Doubtful that we will ever sort that out.  Likely it will be used for any one of those, depending on the intention and the perception of the receiver. 

> > It did lighten my mind and then provoke my response.

> > Our world is rounded, with billions of points of view. I do enjoy the bird's-eye one whether I will ever understand it or not. 

> > Laurel Parshall in Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula kehlilanasnan at Yahoo the dot com-place

> > _______________________________________________

> > Tweeters mailing list

> > Tweeters at u.washington.edu mailto:Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> > http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

> > 

> 

>  

> --

> Steve Hampton

> Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)

> 

>  

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20231126/ee95dc93/attachment.html>