Conversation started Dec 9, 2015 at 19:13.
Anonymous
Dec 9, 2015 19:13
Ah, Jane Austen's doesn't work as an genitive attributive because it has specific reference, so it would have to be in (central) determiner position, but there's already a word in that slot, the indefinite article a
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
@CopperKettle Maybe a simple example like "Anteaters eat an ant" vs. "Anteaters eat ants" may be helpful. :-)
Anonymous
So it appears to have two determiners side-by-side, which is ungrammatical.
CopperKettle
CopperKettle
@DamkerngT. nice!
Anonymous
In contrast, Jane Austen is non-genitive and does work attributively.
Anonymous
So it coexists happily with the existing determiner and works semantically.
Anonymous
Dec 9, 2015 19:14
Are you going through deleted questions for fun, @Ϻ.Λ.Ʀ.? :-)
Ϻ.Λ.Ʀ.
Ϻ.Λ.Ʀ.
@snailboat For science.
Anonymous
That particular aspect of NP structure is something I've noticed many learners have trouble with.
Anonymous
I suspect it's because they have trouble acquiring it intuitively, and the grammatical descriptions that most students are given of the determiner and attributive slots is inadequate.
 
Conversation ended Dec 9, 2015 at 19:17.