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In
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
, a collective noun is a word referring to a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Organism, Living creatures (including people ...
s in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing. For example, the collective noun "group" can be applied to people ("a group of people"), or dogs ("a group of dogs"), or objects ("a group of stones"). Some collective nouns are specific to one kind of thing, especially
terms of venery In linguistics, a collective noun is a word referring to a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing. For example, the collective noun "group" can be applied to people (" ...
, which identify groups of specific animals. For example, "pride" as a term of venery always refers to lions, never to dogs or cows. Other examples come from
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in ...
such as a group of owls, which is called a "parliament". Different forms of English handle verb
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting of ...
with collective
count noun In linguistics, a count noun (also countable noun) is a noun that can be modified by a quantity and that occurs in both singular and plural forms, and that can co-occur with quantificational determiners like ''every'', ''each'', ''several'', ...
s differently. For example, users of
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
generally accept that collective nouns take either singular or plural verb forms depending on context and the metonymic shift that it implies.


Derivation

Morphological derivation accounts for many collective words and various languages have common affixes for denoting collective nouns. 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.


Affixes


Proto-Indo-European

Early Proto-Indo-European used the suffix *eh₂ to form collective nouns, which evolved into the Latin neuter plural ending -a. Late Proto-Indo-European used the ending *t, which evolved into the English ending -th, as in "youth".


English

The English endings ''-age'' and ''-ade'' often signify a collective. Sometimes, the relationship is easily recognizable: ''baggage, drainage, blockade''. Though the
etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...
is plain to see, the derived words take on a distinct meaning. This is a productive ending, as evidenced in the recent
coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in orde ...
, " signage".


German

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 that way are of neuter gender: * ', "group of hills, mountain range" ', "mountain" or "hill" * ', "luggage, baggage" < ', "pack, bundle, pile" * ', "poultry, fowl (birds)" < late MHG ', under the influence of ', "wing" < MHG ' < OHG ' = collective formation of ', "bird" * ', "plumage" < ', "feather" * ', "sibling" < ', "sister" * ', "siblings" < ', "sister" * "Der Gebirgszug" and "die Bergkette" also mean "mountain range", drawing on the words "der Zug" = train, and "die Kette" = chain. There are also several endings that can be used to create collectives, such as "welt" and "masse".


Dutch

Dutch has a similar pattern but sometimes uses the (unproductive) circumfix ': * ' 'mountain' > ' 'mountain range' * ' 'bone' > ' 'skeleton' * ' 'bird' > ' 'poultry' * ' 'leaf' > ' 'foliage'


Swedish

The following
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
example has different words in the collective form and in the individual form: * An individual mosquito is a ' (plural: '), but mosquitos as a collective is '.


Esperanto

Esperanto uses the collective infix -'' ar''- to produce a large number of derived words: * ''monto'' 'mountain' > ''montaro'' 'mountain range' * ''birdo'' 'bird' > ''birdaro'' 'flock' * ''arbo'' 'tree' > ''arbaro'' 'forest' * ''ŝipo'' 'ship' > ''ŝiparo'' 'fleet' * ''manĝilo'' 'eating utensil' > ''manĝilaro'' 'silverware', 'cutlery'


Metonymic merging of grammatical number

Two examples of collective nouns are "team" and "government", which are both words referring to groups of (usually) people. Both "team" and "government" are ''countable'' nouns (consider: "one team", "two teams", "most teams"; "one government", "two governments", "many governments").


Agreement in different forms of English

Confusion often stems from the way that different forms of English handle
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting of ...
with collective nouns—specifically, whether or not to use the collective singular: the singular verb form with a collective noun. The plural verb forms are often used in
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
with the singular forms of these countable nouns (e.g., "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 (e.g., "Physics ''is'' my favorite academic subject"). This apparent "number mismatch" is a natural and logical feature of human language, and its mechanism is a subtle metonymic shift in the concepts 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, while "the team ''are'' fighting among themselves" (''
notional agreement In linguistics, synesis () is a traditional grammatical/rhetorical term referring to agreement (the change of a word form based on words relating to it) due to meaning. A ''constructio kata synesin'' ( la, constructio ad sensum) is a grammatical ...
'') refers to ''the team'' as individuals. That is also the British English practice with names of countries and cities in sports contexts (e.g., " Newcastle ''have'' won the competition."). In
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...
, collective nouns almost always take singular verb forms (formal agreement). In cases that a metonymic shift would be revealed nearby, the whole sentence should be recast to avoid the metonymy. (For example, "The team are fighting among themselves" may become "the team ''members'' are fighting among themselves" or simply "The team is infighting.") Collective
proper noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', '' Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', '' Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''contine ...
s are usually taken as singular ("
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
is expected to release a new phone this year"), unless the plural is explicit in the proper noun itself, in which case it is taken as plural ("The
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
are scheduled to play the Minnesota Vikings this weekend"). More explicit examples of collective proper nouns include " General Motors is once again the world's largest producer of vehicles," and " Texas Instruments is a large producer of
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
here," and " British Airways is an airline company in Europe." Furthermore, " American Telephone & Telegraph is a
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
company in North America." Such phrases might look plural, but they are not.


Examples of metonymic shift

A good example of such a metonymic shift in the singular-to-plural direction (which exclusively takes place 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, but they are still discrete individuals; the word choice "team have" manages to convey both their collective and discrete identities simultaneously. Collective nouns that have a singular form but take a plural verb form are called collective plurals. 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 shift (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 verb forms, according to the same rules that apply to other collective nouns. For example, it is correct usage in both British English and American English usage to say: "None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right." In that case, the plural verb is used because the context for "none" suggests more than one thing or person. This also applies to the use of an adjective as a collective noun: "The British are coming!"; "The poor will always be with you." Other examples include: * " Creedence Clearwater Revival ''was'' founded in El Cerrito, California" (but in British English, "Creedence Clearwater Revival ''were'' founded ...") * "
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
''have'' won the match" (but in American English, "Arsenal ''has'' won the game") * " Nintendo ''is'' a
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
company headquartered in Japan". This does not, however, affect the tense later in the sentence: * "Cream ''is'' a
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band who ''were'' primarily popular in the 1960s. Abbreviations provide other "exceptions" in American usage concerning plurals: * "Runs Batted In" becomes "RBIs". "Smith had 10 RBIs in the last three games." * "Revised Statutes Annotated" or RSAs. "The RSAs contain our laws." When only the name is plural but not the object, place, or person: * "
The bends "The bends" is a colloquialism for decompression sickness. The Bends may also refer to: * ''The Bends'' (album), a 1995 studio album by Radiohead * "The Bends" (song), a 1995 song by Radiohead * "The Bends", a song by Mr. Bungle from the 1995 alb ...
''is'' a deadly disease mostly affecting SCUBA divers." * "''
Hot Rocks Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...
'' ''is'' a greatest hits compilation by The Rolling Stones"


Terms of venery

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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. It was marked by an extensive proliferation of specialist vocabulary, applying different names to the same feature in different animals. The 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, the tendency had reached exaggerated and even satirical proportions. '' The Treatise'', written by
Walter of Bibbesworth Walter of Bibbesworth (1235–1270) was an English knight and Anglo-Norman poet. Documents confirm that he held land in the parish of Kimpton, Hertfordshire at the farm now called Bibbsworth Hall ("Bibbs Hall" on some maps). About 1250 he ser ...
in the mid-1200s, is the earliest source for collective nouns of animals in any European vernacular (and also the earliest source for animal noises). 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 century) 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 emerged in the later 15th century. Thus, a list of collective nouns in Egerton MS 1995, dated to under the heading of "termis of venery &c.", extends to 70 items, and the list in the '' Book of Saint Albans'' (1486) runs to 164 items, many of which, even though introduced by "the compaynys of beestys and fowlys", relate not to venery but to human groups and professions and are clearly humorous, such as "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. 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 if they were originally meant to be humorous and have long ceased to have any practical application. 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. The popularity of the terms in the modern period has resulted in the addition of numerous lighthearted, humorous or facetious collective nouns.


See also

;Linguistics concepts *
Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one", "two" or "three or more"). English and other languages present number categories of ...
* Mass noun *
Measure word In linguistics, measure words are words (or morphemes) that are used in combination with a numeral to indicate an amount of something represented by some noun. Description Measure words denote a unit or measurement and are used with mass nouns ...
s *
Plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...
* Plurale tantum *
Synesis In linguistics, synesis () is a traditional grammatical/rhetorical term referring to Agreement (linguistics), agreement (the change of a word form based on words relating to it) due to meaning. A ''constructio kata synesin'' ( la, constructio ad ...
;Lists * List of animal names, including names for groups ; Interdisciplinary * Social unit


Further reading

* Hodgkin, John. "Proper Terms: An attempt at a rational explanation of the meanings of the Collection of Phrases in 'The Book of St Albans', 1486, entitled 'The Compaynys of besties and fowls and similar lists", ''Transactions of the Philological Society 1907–1910'' Part III, pp. 1–187, Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trübner & Co, Ltd, London, 1909. * Shulman, Alon. ''A Mess of Iguanas... A Whoop of Gorillas: An Amazement of Animal Facts''. Penguin. (First published Penguin 2009.) . * Lipton, James. ''An Exaltation of Larks, or The "Veneral" Game''. Penguin. (First published Grossman Publishers 1968.) (Penguin first reprint 1977 ); in 1993 it was republished in Penguin with ''The Ultimate Edition'' as part of the title with the (paperback), (hardcover) * PatrickGeorge. ''A filth of starlings''. PatrickGeorge. (First published 2009.) . * Patrick George. ''A drove of bullocks''. Patrick George. (First published 2009.) . * Fanous, Samuel (2014). ''A Conspiracy of Ravens: a compendium of collective nouns for birds''. Oxford: Bodleian Library. . * Fanous, Samuel (2015). ''A Barrel of Monkeys: a compendium of collective nouns for animals''. Oxford: Bodleian Library. .


References


External links


Collective Nouns

"The companyes of bestys & foules" (section from the ''Book of St Albans'')
{{Authority control Nouns by type Rhetoric Grammatical number