This paper contrasts German and English collective nouns for animals in groups. It does so by analysing the nouns according to their sense relations. Are crows really murderous - in English and German alike?
Commonly used collective nouns like a school of fishes, a murder of crows, and an unkindness of ravens personify these kinds of animals and children become creative when they hear such terminology. However, the full motivation and history behind this established metaphorical use of collective nouns for animals in groups remain concealed. Despite that, it is possible to analyse how some collective nouns are related to the animals in groups they denote, and if similar patterns apply for other languages than English, in this case German. That is the main question which is aimed to solve in this paper. Against this backdrop, different theoretical aspects are considered. These imply the distinction between relational and non-relational meanings, different sense relations, as well as degrees of specificity in English and German among a few other theoretical aspects. A detailed explanation is given in the further course of this paper. The Theory Chapter begins by defining some relevant concepts to then explain some theoretical ideas. Subsequently, the working hypothesis of this research is presented. In the Analysis, the data at hand as well as the conducted methodology are outlined. After this, the results, which include methodological peculiarities, patterns and striking findings, are pointed out and discussed. Eventually, the Conclusion delivers an overview of all outcomes and their implications.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theory Chapter
2.1 Defining Some Concepts
2.2 Theory
2.3 Working Hypothesis
3. Analysis
3.1 Data and Methodology
3.2 Results
4. Conclusion
Works Cited
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This paper investigates the metaphorical and semantic nature of collective nouns used for animals in groups, conducting a contrastive analysis between English and German. It seeks to determine whether these nouns are purely numerical descriptors or if they reflect symbolic attributes and cultural narratives associated with specific animals, while evaluating the extent to which English and German employ divergent or intersecting linguistic patterns.
- Contrastive analysis of English and German collective nouns
- Distinction between relational and non-relational meanings
- Role of metaphorical extensions and frozen metaphors in animal terminology
- Use of corpus linguistics (COCA, DWDS) to determine linguistic patterns
- Examination of semantic sense relations (synonymy, polysemy, antonymy)
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Defining Some Concepts
Before looking more closely at some concepts in the theory section, it is helpful to have commonly consented definitions of some terms that reappear during the analysis. Hereby, the most basic term that has to be clarified is content word. In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics, Matthews (2014) claims that a content word contains “lexical meaning”. Also, another term would be “’contentive’” (Matthews 2014). More concisely, in The Oxford Companion to the English Language (2018) content words are defined as including “NOUNS[,] VERBS (except auxiliaries), ADJECTIVES, and ADVERBS”. According to psycholinguists, content words are “process[ed] (…) differently from function words, implying that they are stored and retrieved differently in the brain” (2018). This is advantageous to keep in mind when considering the causal relationships of collective terms and the animals in groups they denote. Collective nouns, so a specific category of content words, are “NOUN[S] referring to a group of people, animals, or things”, whereby the number is also denoted when referring to it (2018).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the research question regarding why metaphorical collective nouns are used for animals and whether these patterns are shared between English and German.
2. Theory Chapter: Establishes definitions for content words and collective nouns while explaining semantic concepts like relational versus non-relational meanings, sense relations, and metaphorical extensions.
3. Analysis: Details the corpus-based methodology using English (COCA) and German (DWDS) datasets to compare collective nouns across twenty selected animal species.
4. Conclusion: Synthesizes findings, confirming that while languages often intersect, English tends to utilize more metaphorical extensions, whereas German displays more underspecification.
Keywords
Collective nouns, Contrastive linguistics, English, German, Semantics, Metaphorical extensions, Relational meanings, Non-relational meanings, Corpus linguistics, Sense relations, Polysemy, Synonymy, Antonymy, Frozen metaphors, Underspecification
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this research paper?
The paper examines collective nouns used to describe groups of animals, comparing their semantic structures and usage patterns in the English and German languages.
What are the central thematic fields covered?
The study focuses on linguistics, specifically morphology and semantics, analyzing how speakers categorize animals and why certain collective terms are conventionally associated with specific species.
What is the primary research goal of the work?
The goal is to determine if collective nouns for animals are based solely on quantity or if they function as symbolic descriptors reflecting cultural attributes and folklore assigned to the animals.
Which scientific methods were applied?
The author utilized corpus linguistics, analyzing data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and various German corpora (DWDS), supported by lexical introspective analysis.
What topics are discussed specifically in the main section?
The main section covers core definitions of content words, the categorization of noun types, the analysis of specific animal terminology, and the distinction between relational and non-relational meanings.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include collective nouns, contrastive linguistics, semantic structures, metaphorical extensions, and corpus analysis.
How do English and German differ regarding collective noun usage?
The research concludes that while the languages share many semantic structures, German is often more underspecified, using general classificatory nouns, while English employs a higher frequency of conventionalized metaphors.
What is the significance of the term "frozen metaphor" in this study?
A "frozen metaphor" refers to a conventionalized metaphorical expression where the speaker no longer immediately recognizes the underlying comparison; the paper uses this to explain terms like "murder of crows".
What methodological challenges did the author encounter?
The author noted difficulty in retrieving precise quantitative data for certain animal groups in German corpora compared to English, requiring adjusted search formulas and the use of external sources like tierchenwelt.de.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Lisa Thöne (Autor:in), 2021, Collective Nouns for Animals in Groups. A Contrastive Analysis of English and German, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1474878
