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Collective number - Definition and Overview |
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In linguistics, collective number is a number referring to a set of things. Languages that have this feature can use it to get a phrase like 'flock of sheep' by using 'sheep' in collective number.
Some languages have collectives but no grammatical plural. For example, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean do not have plurals. However, groups of people can be referred to, either by context or periphrastically (i.e., with additional words or phrases).
An example from Japanese:
- Tanaka-san; Tanaka-san-tachi
- "Mr. Tanaka"; "Mr. Tanaka and his group
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Example Usage of Collective |
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lgshareditems: Founder Collective fund rounds up Flickr, LiveOps co-founders and $40 million http://j.mp/3fUU6i |
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derwolfanwalt: @Rezank From a purely utilitarian standpoint, what we have allowed to happen to marriage is Collective suicide. |
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SPORTIQE: CHECK OUT http://bit.ly/43zzTy for pics from all the OAR Collective events! Thank you all for coming out! Special thanks to @ofarevolution |
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