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Glite Dictionary
🦜 About the finch 🦜 A colorful bird
Gouldian

Gouldian

1 8.9
Relating to a small colorful Australian bird with bright feathers
  • adjective
  • Australian
: gouldiano
  • The Gouldian finch is famous for its vibrant colors and unique patterns in its feathers.

Examples

  • Gouldian finches have three distinct color polymorphisms or "morphs": the plumage on their heads is either red, black, or (very rarely) yellow.

    Blog text (21)

  • Many bird enthusiasts strive to create a habitat that supports the needs of the Gouldian finch.

  • The essay reprinted here, "Carrie Buck's Daughter," has a very different cast of characters, but it is also a quintessentially Gouldian piece of historical detective work.

    Academic text (2002)

  • In Australia, the Gouldian finch is celebrated for its beauty and is often kept as a pet.

Surface Forms

Gouldian positive

Morphology

Gouldian = Gould (semi-transparent) = Gould + ian

The adjectival formation from the proper name 'Gould' + '-ian' is regular, but identifying the referent requires knowing the eponym (the bird or the person).

Etymology

Gouldian comes from the name of the English bird scientist John Gould plus the ending -ian, which means 'of or related to'. So Gouldian describes something that is 'of' or 'about' the colorful Gouldian finch.