Classification sémantique des collectifs humains

The aim of this article is to propose a semantic classification for collectively interpreted human nouns. As there are many of them – several thousand – and extremely varied, the classification proposed is based on the predicate-argument relationship, and calls on the notion of appropriate operators. With these appropriate operators, semantically homogeneous sets can be formed: une foule se disperse, on forme un rang, un attroupement se produit, on tient un congrès, on adhère à une organisation, on fonde un établissement, etc. This sort of typology underlines the importance of metonymy when it comes to interpreting these words. Once the classification has been obtained, the different syntactic functions which human collective can take on in the sentence are described, with emphasis laid on their role as noun predeterminers, an important and highly varied class.