Common name | Sleepy shark |
Language | English |
Type | Vernacular |
Official trade name | No |
Rank | 3 - (Other common name) |
Country | Australia |
Locality | |
Ref. | Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens, 1994 |
Life stage | juveniles and adults |
Sex | females and males |
Core | primary lexeme |
1st modifier | behavior |
2nd modifier | |
Remarks | 'Sleeper', i.e., to rest in a state of sleep (p. 1108 in Ref. 11978); 'shark', of obscure origins but appears to have been introduced by members of the Sir John Hawkins' expedition ( a ballad of 1569 recorded 'There is no proper name for [the fish] that I know, but that certain men of Captain Hawkins's doth call it a shark'), ressembles Austrian dialect 'schirk', i.e., sturgeon (p. 471 in Ref. 11979). |