This is a follow-up to yesterday’s posting “N1 of N2”, where my central point was about two English NP constructions of the form N1 of N2; I claimed to be providing only
a compact [account] that covered the important facts [relevant to the example a variety of celebrations] but didn’t wander into the rat’s nest of related matters
Today is rat’s nest day. The fact is that English has a whole heap of constructions of the form N1 of N2, but only a few are relevant to that example; however, the number of relevant constructions is (by my current reckoning) four, not two; and some of these are related by the processes of historical change.
N1 of N2 in English syntax. To get a feel for the immense diversity of this syntactic form, contemplate these four examples, none of which is relevant to a variety of celebrations (I could go on in this vein for quite some time):
Timon of Athens
a puree of spinach
a sculpture of David
a hell of a linguist
Yesterday’s posting. On the two constructions:
In one, N1 is the head N of the NP, and of N2 is a PP complement of N1; in the clearest examples, N1 denotes a container or containers, and of N2 is a partitive complement, denoting the contents of the container; if the NP is a (grammatical) subject, then the verb of its clause agrees with N1 in number
… In the other construction, N1 is a determiner (denoting the size of a collection) modifying the head N2; so if the NP is a (grammatical) subject, then the verb of its clause agrees with N2 in number
N1: container, collective, measure. In the first section above, note the simplifying “in the clearest examples”: container N1 (in a vase of flowers and bags of junk) is in fact just one of three types in which N1 is the head of the NP. Note that if the container is a large one, this construction will convey (but not necessitate) the great size of what is contained; we expect a barrel of flowers to contain many flowers, and drums of junk to contain much junk (but we could be disappointed).
Then there is collective N1. Using a collective noun (as in a bunch of flowers and piles of junk) and using a plural noun are two ways to “mean more than one” (as I put it in my Language Log posting of 12/8/06, “Plural, mass, collective”). Collectives will then be inclined to convey (but not entail) the great size of the collectivity; we expect a bunch of flowers to have a substantial number of flowers in it and piles of junk to have much junk — many pieces of junk — in them (but again we could be disappointed).
Finally there is measure N1. Using a large-sized measure noun — ton, truckload — is yet another way to “mean more than one”: a ton of flowers and truckloads of junk. This time, numerosity (or great amount) is baked into the N: a ton of flowers is many flowers, truckloads of junk are much junk (therefore, many pieces of junk).
Now: the container-N1 construction with large-container N1 can be used figuratively to convey great size (numerosity or amount); this use of the construction can be signaled through accent on N1 and a totalizing determiner like whole modifying N1:
there was a whole BARREL of flowers on the table
there were whole DRUMS of junk in the attic
The great-size semantics conveyed by collective N1s and directly expressed by large-measure N1s can be reinforced by these same devices:
there was a whole BUNCH of flowers on the table
there were whole PILES of junk in the atticthere was a whole TON of flowers on the table
there were whole TRUCKLOADS of junk in the attic
Type shifts. We now have four relevant syntactic types of N: these three subtypes functioning as head, plus one functioning as determiner, as one kind of modifier (with numerosity semantics, like the devoted determiner many). I’ll take the exemplars of the determiner nouns to be singular a lot and plural lots:
there were a lot of flowers on the table
there was a lot of junk in the atticthere were lots of flowers on the table
In any case, there are common historical shifts of items from one of these types to another. In particular, collectives are often reinterpreted as determiners; that’s where determiner a lot and lots came from historically; a group, a bunch, a variety, heaps, and some others picked up the determiner use alongside the head-N usage; for some (like variety) the determiner use has largely carried the field.
Leave a Reply