today's bizarre find

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

while looking for something else, i came across a fair number of
examples of a (non-standard) construction which i don't recall having
seen before -- and which baffles me.  the examples all have a
embedded interrogative clause in which predicative "how" + Adj has
been fronted.  not problematic.  but these examples have an extra
indefinite article preceding "how" + Adj, and that's bizarre.

for each example, i've given a version of the embedded clause with
the predicative (in parentheses) in situ.  in the first set, the
subject NP that follows the fronted predicative begins with "a(n)",
which makes the examples look similar to exceptional degree
modification -- but the phenomena are, i think, not at all related,
and there are plenty of examples (in the second set below) where the
subject begins with something other than "a(n)".

i haven't looked at other types of interrogatives, or adjectives
other than "big" (though i'd assume that the particular adjective
involved is irrelevant).

the question is: where does that initial "a(n)" come from, and what
is it doing?

a how good a N

I am siting here thinking about a how good a donut would be right
now. Thanks for making me laugh.
drivetime.ravijain.org/2006/11/episode-twoseven.html

[a donut would be (Deg good)]

Also, an interesting place to bring visitors to London because it's
such a great example of a how good a gastropub can be.
www.toptable.co.uk/details.cfm/qs/rid%7C2657/spos%7C2

[a gastropub would be (Deg good)]

Although I would prefer that most judgements be objective, part of a
how good a photograph is, quite simply, how much it gives to the veiwer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Featured_picture_criteria

[a photograph is (Deg good)]

Once we find a how good a particular grasp is, we can then compare
among a. number of grasps and choose one that is the best.
www.cs.brown.edu/publications/theses/masters/2001/rcg.pdf

[a particular grasp is (Deg good)]

It is easy to forget a how good a hand you have in a serious poker
game. In a five card hand without wild or drop cards the odds of any
winning hand on your ...
www.texasholdemlive.com/basic-poker-strategy.html

[a hand you have in a serious poker game is (Deg good)]

a how good N

It doesn’t matter a how good your GPU and CPU is—it all comes down to
packet-sizes, bandwidth, and how you deal with both.
www.xbox.com/en-US/conker/devinterviewwithseavor-20050330.htm

[your GPU and CPU is (Deg good)]

This relative measure, however, must be backed up by a second gauge,
a gauge that gives us an idea of a how good the overall education is.
www.whatislife.com/education/teaching-learning.htm

[the overall education is (Deg good)]

So it sort of levels out to being a how good at email networking are
you out of 10. Ahem.
www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artforum/saatchi_forums/topic/21798

[you are (Deg good at email networking) out of 10]

If there is a silver lining to all of this at least those silly pig
guys have helped draw some attention to a how good breastfeeding is.
www.goodroi.com/page/2/

[breastfeeding is (Deg good)]

arnold

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