Corypha utan
- noun
- Specialized
:
Corypha utan
- The broad leaves of the Corypha utan are traditionally used for making thatched roofs in rural villages.
Examples
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Villagers plait containers from the tough, fibrous leaves of Corypha utan.
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The Corypha utan is often called the talipot palm.
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Researchers studied how the Corypha utan can withstand harsh tropical weather conditions.
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Many traditional roofs in Malaysia are made from Corypha utan leaves.
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The broad leaves of the Corypha utan are traditionally used for making thatched roofs in rural villages.
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Villagers plait containers from the tough, fibrous leaves of Corypha utan.
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Many traditional roofs in Malaysia are made from Corypha utan leaves.
Synonyms
A large palm with big leaves used for covering roofs and weaving baskets
A tall palm tree whose wide leaves people use to make roofs and weave baskets
Surface Forms
Morphology
Corypha + utan
The genus name 'Corypha' clearly signals a type of tropical palm, so a learner who knows that constituent would recognize this as a kind of palm. However 'utan' is a species epithet (and here listed as not found in the dictionary) and does not transparently convey the additional details about size, native range, or uses; botanical Latin binomials function mainly as labels. Because the name partly signals category (a Corypha/palm) but does not allow the full descriptive meaning to be derived, it is classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Corypha utan may come from local names: Corypha comes from a word for 'top' because this palm has a big fan of leaves at the top of a tall trunk, and utan is the local name used in parts of Southeast Asia. That's why Corypha utan is known as the large palm whose broad leaves are used to make roofs and woven containers.
