Collective noun

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Not to be confused with mass noun. In linguistics, a collective noun is the name of a number (or collection) of people or things taken together and spoken of as one whole. For example, in the phrase "a pride of lions", pride is a collective noun. Most collective nouns encountered in everyday speech, such as "group", are mundane and are not specific to one kind of constituent object. For example, the terms "group of people", "group of dogs", and "group of ideas" are all correct uses. Others, especially words belonging to the large subset of collective nouns known as terms of venery (words for groups of animals), are specific to one kind of constituent object. For example, "pride" as a term of venery refers to lions, but not to dogs or llamas. Collective nouns should not be confused with mass nouns, or with the collective grammatical number.

Contents

[hide] 1 Deriva tional collectiv es 2 Meton ymic merging of grammat ical number 3 Terms of venery (words for groups of animals) 4 See also 5 Refere nces 6 Gener al sources

[edit]Derivational collectives
Derivation accounts for many collective words. Because derivation is a slower and less productive word formation process than the more overtly syntactical morphological methods, there are fewer collectives formed this way. As with all derived words, derivational collectives often differ semantically from the original words, acquiring new connotations and even new denotations. The English endings -age and -ade often signify a collective. Sometimes the relationship is easily recognizable: baggage, drainage, blockade. However, even though the etymology is plain to see, the derived words take on quite a special meaning. German uses the prefix Ge- to create collectives. The root word often undergoes umlaut and suffixation as well as receiving the Ge- prefix. Nearly all nouns created in this way are ofneuter gender. Examples include:

 das Gebirge, "group of mountains", from der Berg, "mountain" das Gepck, "luggage, baggage" from der Pack, "pack, bundle, pile" das Geflgel, "poultry, fowl (birds)" from late MHG gevlgel(e), under the influence of der Flgel, "wing", from MHG gevgel, from OHG gifugili = collective formation, from fogal,"bird" das Gefieder, "plumage" from die Feder, "feather" In Swedish one example is the different words for mosquitos in the collective form and in the individual form: 1. mygga (individual mosquito), plural: myggor 2. mygg (mosquitos as a collective)

[edit]Metonymic merging of grammatical number

Main articles: Synesis and Plurale tantum Two good examples of collective nouns are "team" and "government", which are both words referring to groups of (usually) people. Both "team" and "government" are count nouns. (Consider: "one team", "two teams", "most teams"; "one government", "two governments", "many governments"). However, confusion often stems from the fact that plural verb forms are often used in British English with the singular forms of these count nouns (for example: "The team have finished the project."). Conversely, in the English language as a whole, singular verb forms can often be used with nouns ending in "-s" that were once considered plural (for example: "Physics is my favorite academic subject"). This apparent "number mismatch" is actually a quite natural and logical feature of human language, and its mechanism is a subtle metonymic shift in the thoughts underlying the words. In British English, it is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms depending on the context and the metonymic shift that it implies. For example, "the team is in the dressing room" (formal agreement) refers to the team as an ensemble, whilst "the team are fighting among themselves" (notional agreement) refers tothe team as individuals. This is also British English practice with names of countries and cities in sports contexts; for example, "Germany have won the competition.", "Madrid have lost three consecutive matches.", etc. In American English, collective nouns almost invariably take singular verb forms (formal agreement). In cases where a metonymic shift would be otherwise revealed nearby, the whole sentence may be recast to avoid the metonymy. (For example, "The team are fighting among themselves" may become "the teammembers are fighting among themselves" or simply "The team is

fighting.") See American and British English differences - Formal and notional agreement. A good example of such a metonymic shift in the singular-to-plural direction (which, generally speaking, only occurs in British English) is the following sentence: "The team have finished the project." In that sentence, the underlying thought is of the individual members of the team working together to finish the project. Their accomplishment is collective, and the emphasis is not on their individual identities, yet they are at the same time still discrete individuals; the word choice "team have" manages to convey both their collective and discrete identities simultaneously. A good example of such a metonymic shift in the plural-to-singular direction is the following sentence: "Mathematics is my favorite academic subject." The word "mathematics" may have originally been plural in concept, referring to mathematic endeavors, but metonymic shiftthat is, the shift in concept from "the endeavors" to "the whole set of endeavors"produced the usage of "mathematics" as a singular entity taking singular verb forms. (A true mass-noun sense of "mathematics" followed naturally.) Nominally singular pronouns can be collective nouns taking plural verbs, according to the same rules that apply to other collective nouns. For example, it is correct British English orAmerican English usage to say: "None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right." In this case, the plural verb is used because the context for "none" suggests more than one thing or person.[1]

[edit]Terms of venery (words for groups of animals)

Further information: List of collective nouns The tradition of using "terms of venery" or "nouns of assembly", collective nouns that are specific to certain kinds of animals stems, from an English hunting tradition of the Late Middle Ages. The fashion of a consciously developed hunting language came to England from France. It is marked by an extensive proliferation of specialist vocabulary, applying different names to the same feature in different animals. These elements can be shown to have already been part of French and English hunting terminology by the beginning of the 14th century. In the course of the 14th century, it became a courtly fashion to extend the vocabulary, and by the 15th century, this tendency had reached exaggerated proportions. The Venerie of Twiti (early 14th century) distinguished three types of droppings of animals, and three different terms for herds of animals. Gaston Phoebus (14th c.) had five terms for droppings of animals, which were extended to seven in the Master of the Game (early 15th century). The focus on collective terms for groups of animals

emerges in the later 15th century. Thus, a list of collective nouns in Egerton MS 1995, dated to ca. 1452 under the heading of termis of venery &c. extends to 70 items,[2] and the list in the Book of Saint Albans (1486) runs to 165 items, many of which, even though introduced by the compaynys of beestys and fowlys, do not relate to venery but to human groups and professions and are clearly humorous. (a Doctryne of doctoris, a Sentence of Juges, a Fightyng of beggers, an uncredibilite of Cocoldis, a Melody of harpers, a Gagle of women, a Disworship of Scottis etc.)[3] [4] The Book of Saint Albans became very popular during the 16th century and was reprinted frequently. Gervase Markham edited and commented on the list in his The Gentleman's Academic in 1595. The book's popularity had the effect of perpetuating many of these terms as part of the Standard English lexicon, even though they have long ceased to have any practical application.[5] Even in their original context of medieval venery, the terms were of the nature of kennings, intended as a mark of erudition of the gentlemen able to use them correctly rather than for practical communication.[citation needed] The popularity of these terms in the early modern and modern period has resulted in the addition of numerous lighthearted, humorous or "facetious"[6] collective nouns.

[edit]See also
Linguistics concepts Lists Grammatical number Mass noun Measure words Plural Plurale tantum Synesis

List of collective nouns for all subjects List of animal names, including names for groups English language Wiktionary appendix of collective nouns Interdisciplinary Social unit

The Abstract Noun

Recognize an abstract noun when you see one.
Nouns name people, places, and things. One class of nouns is abstract. Your five senses cannot detect this group of nouns. You cannot see them, hear them, smell them, tastethem, or feel them.

Cannot see

Cannot hear

Cannot smell

Cannot taste

Cannot touch

Check out the following example:

When Joseph dived into the violent waves to rescue a drowning puppy, his bravery amazed the crowd of fishermen standing on the dock.

Bravery, one of the nouns in this sentence, is an example of an abstract noun. You cansee Joseph, the water, and the crowd. But you cannot see bravery itself. Bravery has no color, size, shape, sound, odor, flavor, or texture; it has no quality that you can see, hear, smell,

taste, or touch. Any noun that escapes your five senses is an abstract noun.

Don't confuse an abstract noun with a concrete noun.

Many nouns are concrete, not abstract. Concrete nouns register on your five senses. Here is an example:
Joseph cuddled the wet puppy under his warm jacket.

Puppy is an example of a concrete noun. You can see a puppy, stroke its fur, smell its breath, and listen to it whine. You can even taste the puppy if you don't mind pulling dog hair off your tongue! Because a puppy will register on all five senses, puppy is a concrete noun. Look over this chart contrasting abstract and concrete nouns:
Abstract Nouns Concrete Nouns deceit the President dedication teacher curiosity cat trust airplane relaxation bubble bath

Common Noun brother child friend king leader

Abstract Noun brotherhood childhood friendship kingship leadership

Common Noun man member mother neighbor scholar

Abstract Noun manhood membership motherhood neighborhood scholarship

Verb

Abstract Noun

Verb

Abstract Noun

behave die free grow know laugh

behavior death freedom growth knowledge laughter

lose marry please sell speak think

loss marriage pleasure sale speech thought

Adjective angry beautiful brave great happy hungry king long

Abstract Noun anger beauty bravery greatness happiness hunger kindness length

Adjective new strong thirsty true unique weak wide wise

Abstract Noun newness strength thirst truth uniqueness weakness width wisdom