Date:  Fri, 8 Sep 1995 10:33:48 EDT

From:  Arnold Zwicky <zwicky[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LING.OHIO-STATE.EDU>

Subject: DEG ADJ of a N



in my work on exceptional degree modifiers - those, like

HOW, SO, and TOO, that occur with a+N (HOW BIG A DOG) rather

than the bare N (VERY BIG DOG) - i have had to say a bit

about the variant with OF (HOW BIG OF A DOG), which is

nonstandard but fairly widespread in the u.s. i do *not*

need examples. but i would like to be sure that i haven't

disregarded any literature on the subject. this is not

easy to search for, given that the relevant crucial word

is OF. does anyone know of published articles of any

substance on the construction?



arnold (zwicky[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ling.ohio-state.edu)