ABSTRACT
A name of a tree, e.g. oak, may be made a mass-word, not only to denote the wood or timber obtained from the tree, but also to denote a mass of growing trees (0£. barley, wheat): "oak and beech began to take the place of willow and elm." A corresponding usage is also found in other languages. A related case is seen in the use of fish, not only to denote the" flesh" of fish which we eat, but also the living animals as an object for fishing; this is found in other languages besides English, thus in Danish (fisk), Russian (ryba, Asboth, Gramm. 68), Magyar (Simonyi US. 259). In English and Danish this has been one of the causes that have led to the use of the unchanged plural as in many fish, mange fisk.
