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Animal names and collective nouns - what's the pattern?
I probably learned this in fourth-grade science, but forgot and it's been bugging me lately so now I'll bug you all.
Why is it that for certain kinds of animals we have so many collective nouns in English that are the same as singular: that is, the singular and the plural forms are the same? Examples: sheep, elk, moose, etc; and perch, goldfish, trout, salmon, haddock, cod, etc. Is it a special ruminant-fish thing, did we get those groups of words from a single older language, or what is going on with this, if anything?
I tried this question in "Zoology" but didn't get an answer, so am trying it here instead.
1 Answer
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
I don't think there is a rule, in fact I'm almost sure there isn't one... I remember having to learn most of these http://www.rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml when studying English Philology, but don't remember rules. Some linguist must have had a creative moment a long time ago, I suppose :)