A woman's sweater

Question

HiHelp me understand how this works: If I say "a woman's sweater" does the indefinite article belong to the word 'woman' or 'sweater'? It's clear that in the case of 'a women's magazine' the article belongs to 'magazine'. But with singular nouns it's trickier.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

MustAskHelp me understand how this works:

Articles belong to the noun phrase's head word.
The head word is "sweater."
"a sweater"
"a [woman's] sweater"

Sometimes the order of adjectives and determiners is important to eliminate ambiguity.

"a woman's black sweater"
"a black woman's sweater" ???
"a large woman's sweater" (a large-size sweater for women)
"a woman's large sweater" (a large-size sweater that belongs to a woman)

"a tall woman's sweater"
X "a woman's tall sweater"

Fivejedjon · Answer

If the sweater is a feminine garment, then woman's is functioning as a modifier. The article, as Mr M said, goes with the headword of the Noun phrase, sweater
However, if we are saying that the seater is the possession of a woman, then the article goes with woman. This is not a very likely reading, but it's possible.

CalifJim · Answer

MustAskIf I say "a woman's sweater" does the indefinite article belong to the word 'woman' or 'sweater'?

Bad example, I'm afraid — as already noted earlier in this thread. "woman's" is more like a modifier here than a sign of possession, so the rule you're looking for in the general case has nothing to do with the example you gave.
________________

Let's start over with a better example: a manager's job = the job of a manager. That should answer your question in the central cases of a possessive. "a" goes with "manager"; "a" does not go with "job". With a possessive in that position, "the" (not stated explicitly) goes with the second word.

The PossP determiner marks the superordinate NP as definite, even if the subordinate one is indefinite: a reviewer's responsibility, for example, means "the" (not "a") "responsibility of a reviewer". (Rodney Huddleston, Introduction to the Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press, 1984)

In other words, when a possessive precedes a noun, the noun cannot be taken as indefinite. It's automatically definite.
________

As already stated above, this rule does not apply when the possessive is used as a modifier.

CJ

MustAsk · Answer

Thanks everyone!

How does that work with:

A Micheal Jackson's song, a Bill Gate's non-profit organization, a Christopher Nolan's movie

1. Are these grammatically possible?
2. What words in the examples above are modifiers or possessives?

Fivejedjon · Answer

I'd say: a Michael Jackson song, a Bill Gate non-profit organization, a Christopher Nolan movie.

CalifJim · Answer

MustAskHow does that work with:A Micheal Jackson's song, a Bill Gate's non-profit organization, a Christopher Nolan's movie

As answered above. Don't use 's in these cases because the name is a modifier.

CJ

A woman's sweater

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