Sylviinae

Under Sibley and Monroe the Sylviinae represent the main body of babblers, minus the laughing thrushes, which are now placed in the Garrulacinae. The naming of this new slimmed down Sylviinae presents some problems, particularly in Vietnamese, where both the Sylviinae and the Garrulacinae have a claim to the name Khướư.

Chinese:

China is home to a rich variety of Sylviinae, mostly in the south and southwest of the country. With a few exceptions, however, there do not appear to be well-established popular names. For the Timaliini, Mainland naturalists have developed a rather artificial battery of 'common names' mainly based on the word 鹛 méi, a general term for the babblers also used for the Garrulacinae. For detailed correspondences between names and genera, see Notes.

The Leiothrix (notably L. lutea) are popular cage birds known in Chinese as 相思鸟 xiāng-sī-niǎo ('mutual thought birds', better translated as 'birds in love'), from their habit of singing together (or to each other) in separate cages.

The parrotbills (crowtits) are known as 鸦雀 yā-què ('crow finches') and the Sylviini as 林莺 lín-yīng ('forest warblers'), a term directly derived from the Western name Sylviini.

The regularisation of the Mainland names has passed the Taiwanese names by completely, with the result that the latter seem more 'natural' if inaccurate in strictly scientific terms. Taiwanese naturalists refer to the Pomatorhinus as 彎嘴 wān-zuǐ 'curved bills' and the Pnoepyga as a scaly-breasted 'wren' (鷦鷯 jiāoliáo). Stachyris rucifeps is 山紅頭 shān hóng-tóu 'mountain red head', Alcippe brunnea is 頭烏線 tóu wū xiàn 'head black stripe', and several birds are known as 畫眉 huà-méi ('huamei'), after the well-known Melodious laughing thrush (Garrulax canorus).

Japanese:

The Sylviinae are not found in Japan. Many names are based on the word チメドリ chime-dori, written 知目鳥 or literally 'know-see bird'. For want of a better translation, I've rendered this 'chime-bird' in English, keeping in mind that chime should be read chimé. Unmodified, チメドリ chime-dori refers to Alcippe brunnea, the Gould's or Dusky fulvetta, a bird found in Taiwan.

Other general names include:

マルハシ maru-hashi ('curved bill'), probably written 丸嘴, for Pomatorhinus erythrogenys (now P. erythrocnemis) and other scimitar babblers.

ソウシチョウ sōshi-chō for Leiothrix, written 相思鳥, a direct borrowing from Chinese.

シマドリ shima dori for Actinodura (barwings). This presumably means 'striped bird' (縞鳥), although often birds using the descriptor shima are written 島鳥 'island bird'. Unmodified this name refers to the Taiwanese Actinodura morrisoniana.

ダルマエナガ daruma e-naga 'dharma long-handle' (written 達磨柄長) for the genus Paradoxornis (parrotbills). エナガ e-naga itself refers to the Aegithilidae (long-tailed tits). (The word 'Dharma' was originally the name of an Indian Buddhist monk in China. In Japan it has been given to a squat, red doll in the shape of a monk, often made of papier maché, which is weighted in the base and jumps back up when knocked over.)

ムシクイ mushi-kui 'insect-eaters' (written 虫喰) for the Sylviini, a term used for some of the warblers (see Acrocephalinae). The Sylviini are also known as ハッコウチョウ hakkō-chō 'white-throated bird' (written 白喉鳥).

Vietnamese:

The Vietnamese names for the Timaliini (the Sylviini are not found in Vietnam) include:

Chuối tiêu (also meaning 'aromatic bananas', connection unclear) for the Pellorneum.

Họa mi (a cognate of Huamei) for Pomotorhinus and a number of other babblers.

Lách tách for the Alcippe (fulvettas).

Mi for the Heterophasia (sibias).

Khướư for most of the other Timaliini. Khướư is a general term for the 'laughing thrushes' and 'babblers'.

Not all of these names are found in ordinary dictionaries.