Chapter 2
Hybrid agreement
Motivations, nature and constraints
Article outline
- 2.1The boundary issue: Hybrid agreement as a defining feature of collective nouns?
- 2.2The nature of hybrid agreement as an argument against the status of
defining feature
- 2.2.1Description of hybrid agreement with animate count collective
nouns
- 2.2.2The argument of hybrid agreement in gender systems
- 2.2.3Hybrid agreement as a superimposed effect of the universal Animacy
Hierarchy
- 2.2.4Consequence: The singular as the default agreement pattern
- 2.3Construal with hybrid agreement: Motivation and factors of opacification
- 2.3.1Fundamental motivation: A double layer of conceptualisation
- 2.3.2Opacification factor 1: The status of default number of the singular
- 2.3.3Opacification factor 2: Differences in the behaviour of individual nouns
- 2.3.4Opacification factor 3: cross-regional differences
- 2.3.4.1American English vs. British English
- 2.3.4.2Other varieties of English
- 2.3.5Opacification factor 4: Genre and stylistic variation
- 2.3.6Opacification factor 5: Assessing the hypothesis of a diachronic evolution towards more
singular
- 2.4Conclusion on hybrid agreement in relation to the definition of
collective nouns
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Notes