記得前陣子有版友問英文中特定單位量詞的問題，像是一「群」魚 (a school of
fish)、一群羊(a flock of sheep)、一群螞蟻(a colony of ants)....
剛好我前幾天為了要家教，買了一本文法書，裡頭列了一張動物的專有單位量詞表。
以下我打出該表，並以紅色標出常用者 (其他則以黃色標，綠色為罕見)
另外我也加上一些網路上查到的量詞。
至於到底黃標跟綠標有沒有那麼大的差別...嗯...個人意見囉^^
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(依照動物字母排列，格式為 動物 + 量詞，因此應用方式為:
a/an 量詞 of 動物(s)
ex: ant colony ==> a colony of ants
)
(後面用括號另外說明該量詞的同義字及可用性)
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ant colony
ape shrewdness
ass pace (or say a pace of donkeys)
badger cete (cete also applies to whales)
bass shoal (shoal = crowd; applies to fish)
bear sloth
bee swarm
bird flock (flock applies to birds, sheep, mammals, even tourists!)
boar singular
buffalo gang (gand = group; also applies to a group of people)
cattle herd (herd can be used on wild and non-wild animals)
chough chattering
clam bed (bed also spplies to the non-living, ex: a bed of ashes)
coot covert
crane sedge
crow murder (there was a movie called <<A Murder of Crows>>!)
dove dule
duck plump (plump = group, flock)
elk gang (gang = group; also applies to a group of people)
eagle convocation
ferret business
finch charm (charm applies both to finches and hummingbirds)
fox skulks
frog knot (knot applies to both frogs and toads)
geese gaggle (gaggle is esp. used to describe a flock of geese
when not in flight)
hen brood
hawk cast
hog drift (drift = drove, flock)
jellyfish stuck
kitten kindle (kindle applies to cats/kittens)
lark exaltation
lion pride (pride: 1. a company of lions;
2. a showy or impressive group; 3.....)
magpie tidings
mallard sord
martin richness
meadowlark pod
nightingale watch
peacock muster/ostentation (muster = an assembled group, collection)
(muster applies to peacocks, pheasants, turkeys, and storks)
pheasant nide (nide also applies to geese)
plover congregation
raven unkindness (NOTE: raven and crow are different birds!)
quail bevy/covey (both refers to a flock of birds; bevy esp. for quails)
seal trip/pod (trip also applies to dotterel and wildfowl)
sheep flock (very commonly used indeed!)
snipe wisp
sparrow host (host = multitude)
starling murmuration
swan wedge
teal spring (spring also applies to seals)
turtle bale
vermin skulk
walrus pod (pod = a cluster of animals, also applies to whales)
whale gam/pod (gam esp. refers to a school of whales)
wildcat clowder
wildfowl skein (skein = a flock of wildfowl (as geese or ducks) in flight)
wildhog sounder
woodcock fall
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以上並非完整列表。版友要注意的是，以上許多量詞用法已經作古了!
(像是 an unkindness of ravens )
相信版友們已經發現，特定的單位量詞大量出現在「鳥類」上。而許多鳥類量
詞是混用而非特定的 (ex: group, flock, bevy, covey, company.....)
而有些則幾乎是專屬於某種動物的 (ex: a gam of whales, a charm of finches)
要確定哪個單位量詞可以混用而哪個不行，最好的方式是請教權威性字典
(尤其是牛津 Oxford English Dictionary, OED) 然而即使是牛筋...不對，牛津
也不見得能告訴你現在用 a charm of finches 會不會遭白眼....
(除非你正在跟 J.R.R.Tolkien 或是梁實秋聊天吧!)
我在此引用網上某人所貼的 OED 對鳥類量詞的分類 (只有部分):
GROUP A--以下為標準化用法 :
(你可以大方地在21世紀使用，雖然不見得會有人聽懂)
A bevy of quail
A bouquet of pheasants
A brood of hens
A cast of hawks
A charm of finches
A covey of partridges
A flight of swallows
A gaggle of geese
A nye of pheasants
A siege of herons
A skein of geese
A trip of dotterel
A wisp of snipe
GROUP B--非特定鳥種單位量詞，常使用的:
Colony
Company
Flock
Parliament
Party
GROUP C--古老的量詞；一度作古，但最近又開始被引用:
A building of rooks
A murmuration of starlings
A muster of peacocks
A peep of chickens
A sord of mallards
A spring of teal
A watch of nightingales
GROUP D--已進了墳墓的說法，只有古人書上才會用的:
A congregation of plovers
A dissimulation of birds
A dole of doves
A fall of woodcock
A host of sparrows
A paddling of ducks
An unkindness of ravens
GROUP E-- OED 根本沒提到但就是有人用的:
A cover of coots
A kettle of hawks
A murder of crows
An ostentation of peacocks
A pitying of turtledoves
A rafter of turkeys
A tidings of magpies
聽起來真是混亂吧? 所以除非版友想賣弄學問，平常還是乖乖用 herd, group,
flock, school, company, colony, gang 就好! 剩下的...就留給精華區吧!
參考網址:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary M-W 線上字典
http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/gnlist.html 鳥類單位量詞 (可信度高，說明清晰)
http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/ 動物單位量詞 (較不可靠)
http://community-2.webtv.net/solis-boo/Collectives/
動物單位量詞 (有分類，參考用)
http://www.vigay.com/nouns/ (254種量詞，有分類，值得一看!)
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/collective/
(問牛津的量詞搜索引擎! 重量級的，參考書目當然是 OED 系列!)
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