103either in situ or in a sorting task, would, in languages like Solega, clearly bias speak-
ers’ responses towards one type of label, namely the bare mononomial. It was noted
in Chap. 2 that Solega plant name s behave more like obligate binomials , where
words like mara ‘tree’ are dropped only in the context of a person reciting a list of
trees; in the case of grasses and vines, the morphemes for ‘grass’ and ‘vine’ are
totally obligatory. The fact that a context has been unambiguously established
(along the lines of ‘We are now going to talk about birds’) has a very real effect on
subsequent utterances, and so it is worth considering whether the data obtained
from such elicitation sessions is indeed ‘naturalistic’. To use an English analogy, a
car enthusiast might well refer to his/her prized possession as an ‘E-type’, but only
Table 4.1 (continued)
Solega English Scientifi c
Crimson-backed Sunbird N. minima
Loten’s Sunbird N. lotenia
biḷisiṭṭe Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
pa:pira^ Common Hawk-cuckoo Hierococcyx varius
maratottã Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Sitta frontalis
Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch S. castanea
mara kuṭuka Rufous Woodpecker Celeus brachyurus#
Streak-throated Woodpecker Picus xanthopygaeus
Yellow-crowned Woodpecker Dendrocops mahrattensis
maragosappa:na Black-rumped Flameback Dinopium benghalense
moḍemoka Hoopoe Upupa epops
sha:ḷugã/vijju Besra Accipiter virgatus
Shikra A. badius
saṭṭugaba:la Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi#
saṇeyã Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater M. leschenaultii
Bluebearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni#
si:danakari Jungle Babbler Turdoides striatus
doḍḍa si:danakari Rufous Babbler T. subrufus
hullu si:danakari Yellow-billed Babbler T. affi nis
Tawny-bellied Babbler Dumetia hyperythra#
haddu Raptors
hebbaddu Unknown
biḷiyaddu Unknown
koṭrole Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer
koṭṭipiḍiyã Red-whiskered Bulbul P. jocosus
maḷegoḍḍã^ Orange-headed Thrush Zoothera citrina
The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of ‘ generic ’ names per group. The left-aligned
names in column 2 are ‘generic’ names sensu [ 9 ]; the right-aligned names are ‘ subgeneric ’ or
‘specifi c’. Superscripts roughly indicate those birds which are not visually striking—* small; ^
cryptic; # after the scientifi c name indicates a locally monotypic genus. The scientifi c identifi ca-
tions are from [ 168 ]
4.3 Solega Bird Nomenclature