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Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

"This monograph proposes a comparative approach to all the ways of denoting 'more than one' entity, from collective and aggregate nouns (with the first-ever typology), to count plurals, partly substantivised adjectives and conjoined NPs. This semantic feature approach to plurality, which cuts across number, the count/non-count distinction, and lexical/NP levels, reveals a very consistent Scale of Unit Integration, which establishes clear-cut boundaries for collective nouns, and accommodates cases such as three elephant, cattle or a chain of islands. The study also offers a refined understanding of aggregate nouns (a category nearly as large as that of collective nouns) and quantification in pseudo-partitives, develops Guillaume's notion of 'internal plurality', and proposes the innovative concept of 'hyperonyms of plural classes' (e.g. furniture). The Animacy Hierarchy is also found to be influential, beyond hybrid agreement. The book is meant to be accessible to scholars of any theoretical background interested in these topics"-- Provided by publisher.

Intro; SEMANTIC PLURALITY; Editorial page; Title page; Copyright page; Table of contents; Chapter 1. Introduction: Why study semantic plurality and pluralities of entities?; 1.1 What is a plurality of entities?; 1.1.1 'Plurality' compared with 'aggregate' and 'set'; 1.1.2 Do collective nouns denote pluralities?: The concept of 'internal plurality'; 1.1.3 Do plural NPs denote pluralities?: The singularist approach; 1.1.4 List of linguistic means available to denote pluralities of entities; 1.2 Advantages of a semantic /plurality/ feature over the /number/ feature

1.3 Why take collective nouns as a starting point?1.3.1 Collective nouns as the problematic backbone of references to pluralities; 1.3.2 A long tradition of deceptively simple descriptions in grammars and dictionaries; 1.3.3 A number of unsolved issues in recent studies; 1.3.4 Leading questions for this volume; 1.4 A preliminary list of pre-requisites for 'collective nouns'; 1.4.1 A relation between 'units' and a 'collective whole'; 1.4.2 A plurality resulting from a grouping operation; 1.4.3 A specific type of part/whole relation; 1.4.3.1 Unprototypical meronymy

1.4.3.2 Collective wholes distinguished from particulate masses1.4.3.3 Meronymy distinguished from taxonomy, despite the shared notion of 'members'; 1.4.4 A /plurality/ feature at lexical level -- from whole sense to facet of meaning; 1.5 Outline of the book; Chapter 2. Hybrid agreement: Motivations, nature and constraints; 2.1 The boundary issue: Hybrid agreement as a defining feature of collective nouns?; 2.2 The nature of hybrid agreement as an argument against the status of defining feature; 2.2.1 Description of hybrid agreement with animate count collective nouns

2.2.2 The argument of hybrid agreement in gender systems2.2.3 Hybrid agreement as a superimposed effect of the universal Animacy Hierarchy; 2.2.4 Consequence: The singular as the default agreement pattern; 2.3 Construal with hybrid agreement: Motivation and factors of opacification; 2.3.1 Fundamental motivation: A double layer of conceptualisation; 2.3.2 Opacification factor 1: The status of default number of the singular; 2.3.3 Opacification factor 2: Differences in the behaviour of individual nouns; 2.3.4 Opacification factor 3: cross-regional differences

2.3.4.1 American English vs. British English2.3.4.2 Other varieties of English; 2.3.5 Opacification factor 4: Genre and stylistic variation; 2.3.6 Opacification factor 5: Assessing the hypothesis of a diachronic evolution towards more singular; 2.4 Conclusion on hybrid agreement in relation to the definition of collective nouns; Chapter 3. Establishing the boundaries of 'collective nouns' for count nouns; 3.1 Further construal characteristics of collective nouns that license hybrid agreement; 3.1.1 Cohesion of the units; 3.1.2 A bounded plurality

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 12, 2019).