Collective Noun, Mass Noun

Question

I had not heard the term "Mass Noun" until very recently, then it was used on "Countdown" yesterday by somebody who should know, brandishing a dictionary.
Is a "Mass Noun" just the same as a "Collective Noun" or is there adifference? My studies of English Grammar ended with O Level in 1957

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I had not heard the term "Mass Noun" until very recently, then it was used on "Countdown" yesterday by somebody who should know, brandishing a dictionary.[/nq]
Susie Dent, perhaps?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie Dent
[nq:1]Is a "Mass Noun" just the same as a "Collective Noun" or is there adifference? My studies of English Grammar ended with O Level in 1957[/nq]
From COED:
http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/massnoun?view=uk

mass noun
* noun a noun denoting something which cannot be counted, in English usually a noun which has no plural form and is not used with a or an, e.g. luggage, happiness. Contrasted with COUNT NOUN.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/collectivenoun?view=uk collective noun
* noun a noun that denotes a group of individuals (e.g. assembly, family).
In particular see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass noun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective noun
Confounding of collective noun and mass noun
There is often confusion about, and confounding of, the two different concepts of collective noun and mass noun. Generally, collective nouns are not mass (non-count) nouns, but rather are a special subset of count nouns. However, the term "collective noun" is often used to mean "mass noun" (even in some dictionaries), because users confound two different kinds of verb number invariability:
(a) that seen with mass nouns such as "water" or "furniture", with which only singular verb forms are used because the constituent matter is grammatically nondiscrete (although it may ("water") or may not ("furniture") be etically
nondiscrete); and
(b) that seen with collective nouns, which is the result of the metonymical shift, discussed earlier, between the group and its (both grammatically and etically) discrete constituents.

Some words, including "mathematics" and "physics", have developed true mass-noun senses despite having grown from count-noun roots.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I had not heard the term "Mass Noun" until very ... "Countdown" yesterday by somebody who should know, brandishing a dictionary.[/nq]
[nq:1]Susie Dent, perhaps? Dent[/nq]
Yes, that looks like her..
[nq:2]Is a "Mass Noun" just the same as a "Collective ... studies of English Grammar ended with O Level in 1957[/nq]
[nq:1]From COED: http://www.askoxford.com/concise oed/massnoun?view=uk mass noun * noun a noun denoting something which cannot be counted, in English usually a ... etically) discrete constituents. Some words, including "mathematics" and "physics", have developed true mass-noun senses despite having grown from count-noun roots.[/nq]
Many thanks.

Collective Noun, Mass Noun

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