71. ALCA IMPENNIS (Espèce éteinte) |
Gael.S. Gearbhul.- gearrbhuil, gear-bhal, gearra-bhull, gearr-bhall, gar-bhall, gor-ghall; erbhoil St. Kilda. Faber (IsisvonOken, 1827, col. 679,) derives these names as well as the Engl. gare-fowl from the Isl. geirfugl, from scand. geir "spear", in reference to the shape of the bill. Others have seen the Gael. gearr "spot". It seems however more logical to relate the names to the Gael. root geir "fat", this character being formerly of prime economic importance, besides being accurate and more descriptive than the other explanations. No relation whatsoever to gyrfalcon, 230. Ball, in the above combination, is nothing else than Engl. ball (rather than "spot"), thus "ball of fat", a descriptive name.
Cymry Carfil mor.
Engl. Great Auk.- penwing "Yorks.", pinwing, pengwin, penguin. The name is self-explanatory: the Great Auk was the bird with pin wings, pin meaning various pointed objects or wings that have been pinioned. An etymology "penn-gwyn" Welsh for "white head" has been proposed, which can be brushed aside unceremoniously since the bird has a black head. Moreover it would be hard to explain why on this one single instance the Welsh would have gone out to the Atlantic islands where the bird lived, and given it a name. Willoughby (1678) wrote that the bird was called pengwin by seamen. Newton (1893, p.704) writes "In support of the third hypothesis (the one accepted here) Mr. Reeks wrote (Zoologist Ser. 2, p.185) that the people in Newfoundland who used to meet with this bird always pronounced its name "pin-wing". See also Ann.andMagaz.ofNat.Hist., ser. 4, p.133. A derivation from l. pinguis "fat" deserves no comment. Did seamen know latin? gairfowl, garefowl St.Kilda (see Gael.S.).
Isl . Geirfugl.
Franç. Grand Pingouin. De l'anglais pin-wing (q.v.) "aile pinionée"; pengwin était en usage parmi les gens de la mer, par la voie de qui nous avons aussi reçu frégate et albatros, autres espèces exotiques. En 1672 on trouve la forme pennegoin dans "Descriptionethistoirenaturelledescôtesdel'AmériqueduNord par Nicolas Denys.
Esp. penguïno. Pour l'histoire du mot penguïno dans la littérature espagnole, voir Ferreccio Podestá, M., 1967, Lengua,Literatura,Folklore. Estudios dedicados a Rodolfo Oroz, pp.151-168. Universidad de Chile.