today's bizarre find

[Laurence Horn]

Very odd, unless as a transcription of stage-Italian.

LH

At 10:55 AM -0700 6/10/07, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>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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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org