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Article: A friend of my mother('s): on the use of genitive vs. common case in postmodifying of-phrases.
- Article from:
- Studia Anglica Posnaniensia: international review of English Studies
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Adam Mickiewicz University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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1. Aim
It is well-known that the so-called double genitive, or the post-genitive, occurs where the noun phrase following the preposition is definite and human (Quirk et al. 1985: 1283):
an opera of Verdi's BUT NOT: * an opera
an opera of my friend's BUT NOT: * a funnel of the ship's
It is perhaps less known that of-phrases with a common-case noun phrase are found as alternatives to the post-genitive in similar contexts. Compare: (1)
(1) Ultimately I took to wearing them all the time -- only whipping them off when approached by a boy I vaguely fancied or at the doorway of the house of a friend of my mother's, with a boy my ...