Delahunty and Garvey
Genitive NPs raise two further issues of complexity. First, they are closely
related to postmodifiers that use a prepositional phrase headed by of. Com-
pare the following.
(37) a. my friend’s hobbies
b. the hobbies of my friend
c. my friend’s house
d. the house of my friend
e. the house of the friend that I met in Palo Alto
f. the birth of a daughter
g. a daughter’s birth
h. my daughter’s birth
i. the home of the brave
j. ?the braves’ home [Note: (37i) and (37j) have different meanings.]
k. a cup of soup/coffee/tea
l. a soup’s/coffee’s/tea’s cup
m. a wedge of cheese
n. a cheese’s wedge
o. a pat of butter
p. a butter’s pat
q. a ream of paper
r. a paper’s ream
s. a fistful of dollars
t. *a dollar’s fistful
These examples indicate that the choice of premodifier genitive vs. of-geni-
tive depends on various factors:
a. The length of the GenNP: the longer the GenNP, the more like-
ly we are to use an of-genitive, e.g., (37e).
b. Whether the entity represented by the genitive is animate or not;
if it is, we are more likely to use the premodifier genitive; cf. the
cat’s fur vs. ?the wheel’s rim).
c. If the GenNP is a pronoun, we strongly prefer the premodifier
genitive; cf. her car vs. *the car of her, Sophie’s Choice vs. ?A Choice
of Sophie(’s).
d. Note the meaning difference between her photographs and photo-
graphs of her. The first can have many meanings, e.g., photographs
she owns/took/ordered/designed/etc. The second means photo-
graphs in which she is pictured.
e. An NP containing a premodifier genitive is definite, but a post-