Collective dynamics of a two-dimensional (2D) hard-disc fluid was studied by molecular dynamics simulations in the range of packing fractions that covers states up to the freezing. Some striking features concerning collective excitations in this system were observed. In particular, the short-wavelength shear waves while being absent at low packing fractions were observed in the range of high packing fractions, just before the freezing transition in a 2D hard-disc fluid. In contrast, the so-called "positive sound dispersion" typically observed in dense Lennard-Jones-like fluids, was not detected for the 2D hard-disc fluid. The ratio of specific heats in the 2D hard-disc fluid shows a monotonic increase with density approaching the freezing, resembling in this way the similar behavior in the vicinity of the Widom line in the case of supercritical fluids. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.