昨日に続いて標題の表現について，Quirk et al. (1284--85) にこの構文が詳説されている．以下に再現しよう．
A special case of prepositional apposition is offered by singular count nouns where the of-phrase is subjective . . ., eg:
the fool of a policeman
an angel of a girl
this jewel of an island
This structure consisting of determiner + noun (N2) + of + indefinite article + noun (N1) is not a regular prepositional postmodification, since N1 is notionally the head, as can be seen in the paraphrases:
The policeman is a fool. [note the AmE informal variant some fool policeman]
The girl is an angel.
This island is a jewel.
The whole part N2 + of + a corresponds to an adjective:
the foolish policeman
an angelic girl
this jewel-like island
The natural segmentation is reflected in variant spellings, as in the familiar AmE expression a hell of a guy (nonstandard spelling: a helluva guy).
In this construction, the determiner of N1 must be the indefinite article, but there is no such constraint on the determiner of N2:
''a'' ─┐ ┌ ''a policeman'' ''the'' │ ''fool of'' │ *''the policeman'' ''this'' │ └ *''policeman'' ''that'' ─┘
Also, N2 must be singular:
?*those fools of policemen
The possessive determiner actually notionally determines N1, not N2:
her brute of a brother ['Her brother was a brute..']
Both N2 and N1 can be premodified:
a little mothy wisp of a man
this gigantic earthquake of a piece of music
a dreadful ragbag of a British musical
this crescent-shaped jewel of a South Sea island
最後の this crescent-shaped jewel of a South Sea island のように，N1 と N2 の両方が前置修飾されているような例では，この名詞句全体における中心がどこなのかが曖昧である．はたして統語的な主要部と意味的な重心は一致しているのか否か．統語と意味の対応関係を巡る共時理論的な問題は残るにせよ，通時的にみれば，片方の足は元来の構造の上に立ち，もう片方は新しい構造の上に立っているかのようであり，その立場を活かした修辞的表現となっているのがおもしろい．
生成文法としては分析が難しく，認知言語学や修辞学としてはこの上ない興味深い構文である．ここに通時的観点をどのように食い込ませていくか，調査しがいのあるトピックのように思われる．
・ Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman, 1985.
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