In linguistics, a collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole.
For example, in the phrase "a pride of lions", pride is a collective noun.
Most collective nouns in everyday speech, such as "group", are mundane and are not specific
to a kind of 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, are specific to one kind of constituent object.
For example, "pride" as a term of venery refers to lions, but not to dogs or cows.
Collective nouns should not be confused with mass nouns, or with the collective grammatical
number.
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 of neuter gender.
Examples include: das Gebirge, "group of mountains, mountain
range", from der Berg, "mountain" das Gepäck, "luggage, baggage" from der Pack,
"pack, bundle, pile" das Geflügel, "poultry, fowl" from late MHG
gevlügel(e), under the influence of der Flügel, "wing", from MHG gevügel, 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: mygga, plural: myggor
mygg Metonymic merging of grammatical number
Two good examples of collective nouns are "team" and "government", which are both words
referring to groups of people.
Both "team" and "government" are count nouns..
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.
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.
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" refers to the team as an ensemble, while
"the team are fighting among themselves" refers to the 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.
In cases where a metonymic shift would be otherwise revealed nearby, the whole sentence
may be recast to avoid the metonymy.
See Comparison of American and British English - Formal and notional agreement.
A good example of such a metonymic shift in the singular-to-plural direction 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 shift—that 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.
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 or American 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.
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.
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 distinguished three types of droppings of animals, and three different
terms for herds of animals.
Gaston Phoebus had five terms for droppings of animals, which were extended to seven in
the Master of the Game.
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 c. 1452 under the heading
of termis of venery &c.
extends to 70 items, and the list in the Book of Saint Albans 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.
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.
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 these terms in the early modern and modern period has resulted in the
addition of numerous light-hearted, humorous or "facetious" collective nouns.
See also Linguistics concepts
Grammatical number Mass noun
Measure words Plural
Plurale tantum Synesis
Lists 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
References
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 beestys and fowlys" 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.
ISBN 978-1-84614-255-0.
Lipton, James.
An Exaltation of Larks, or The "Veneral" Game.
Penguin.; in 1993 it was republished in Penguin with The Ultimate Edition as part of the title
with the ISBN 0-14-017096-0 Hardcover Paperback PatrickGeorge.
A filth of starlings.
PatrickGeorge.
ISBN 978-0-9562558-1-5.
PatrickGeorge.
A drove of bullocks.
PatrickGeorge.
ISBN 978-0-9562558-0-8.