Collective nouns may be either proper or common.
64. A noun consisting of two or more words united is called a compound noun.
Examples:
- (1) common nouns,—
- tablecloth,
- sidewalk,
- lampshade,
- bedclothes,
- steamboat,
- fireman,
- washerwoman,
- jackknife,
- hatband,
- headache,
- flatiron,
- innkeeper,
- knife-edge,
- steeple-climber,
- brother-in-law,
- commander-in-chief,
- window curtain,
- insurance company;
- (2) proper nouns,—
- Johnson,
- Williamson,
- Cooperstown,
- Louisville,
- Holywood,
- Elk-horn,
- Auburndale,
- Stratford-on-Avon,
- Lowell Junction.
As the examples show, the parts of a compound noun may be joined (with or without a hyphen) or written separately. In some words usage is fixed, in others it varies. The hyphen, however, is less used than formerly.
Note. The first part of a compound noun usually limits the second after the manner of an adjective. Indeed, many expressions may be regarded either (1) as compounds or (2) as phrases containing an adjective and a noun. Thus railway conductor may be taken as a compound noun, or as a noun (conductor) limited by an adjective (railway).
INFLECTION OF NOUNS
65. In studying the inflection of nouns and pronouns we have to consider gender, number, person, and case.
1. Gender is distinction according to sex.
2. Number is that property of substantives which shows whether they indicate one person or thing or more than one.