From an icy hell of a night to a hell of a fine story
-
Elnora ten Wolde
Abstract
English evaluative binominal noun phrases (EBNPs; an icy hell of a night) have been discussed for over 50 years, and a number of different analyses have been presented. This paper argues that one problem shared by previous research is that the of-binominals classified as EBNPs are actually three different constructions: the EBNP and two other of-binominals, evaluative modifiers (EM; one hell of a party) and binominal intensifiers (BI; a hell of a good dog). Using the classification criteria presented in previous studies and corpus data, I argue for distinguishing these two of-binominals from the EBNP. Furthermore, this paper links the development of the EM and the BI to the grammaticalization of premodifiers and other of-binominals.
Abstract
English evaluative binominal noun phrases (EBNPs; an icy hell of a night) have been discussed for over 50 years, and a number of different analyses have been presented. This paper argues that one problem shared by previous research is that the of-binominals classified as EBNPs are actually three different constructions: the EBNP and two other of-binominals, evaluative modifiers (EM; one hell of a party) and binominal intensifiers (BI; a hell of a good dog). Using the classification criteria presented in previous studies and corpus data, I argue for distinguishing these two of-binominals from the EBNP. Furthermore, this paper links the development of the EM and the BI to the grammaticalization of premodifiers and other of-binominals.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Major trends in research on the English NP 1
-
Determination, modification & complementation
- Refining and re-defining secondary determiners in relation to primary determiners 27
- The rivalry between definiteness and specificity 79
- Post-head compression in noun phrase referring expressions 107
- From noun to verb 135
-
Shell nouns & the X-is construction
- Shell nouns as epistemic stance devices in English 171
- Constructional variation and change in N-is focaliser constructions 205
- Premodification in X-is constructions 235
-
Binominal constructions
- From an icy hell of a night to a hell of a fine story 279
- Time-measurement constructions in English 311
- Day to day and night after night 363
- Coordinated phrases as dvandvas 395
- Index 429
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Major trends in research on the English NP 1
-
Determination, modification & complementation
- Refining and re-defining secondary determiners in relation to primary determiners 27
- The rivalry between definiteness and specificity 79
- Post-head compression in noun phrase referring expressions 107
- From noun to verb 135
-
Shell nouns & the X-is construction
- Shell nouns as epistemic stance devices in English 171
- Constructional variation and change in N-is focaliser constructions 205
- Premodification in X-is constructions 235
-
Binominal constructions
- From an icy hell of a night to a hell of a fine story 279
- Time-measurement constructions in English 311
- Day to day and night after night 363
- Coordinated phrases as dvandvas 395
- Index 429
