The phrase "a modifier of a" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in discussions about grammar or linguistics, particularly when explaining how certain words or phrases modify or describe other elements in a sentence.
Example: "In the sentence 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,' 'quick' is a modifier of 'fox.'"
Alternatives: "an adjective of a" or "a descriptor of a".
James Fenimore Cooper, in his 1841 "Deerslayer," had a character "almost livid with emotion," but never said what color that was; however, Walter Scott's 1814 use of the word as a modifier of a color -- his trembling lips are livid blue" -- suggests to me that the meaning was "pallid, ashen, leaden".
For example, a clause may be rankshifted to function as a Modifier of a Head in a nominal group as in As a simple illustration, think of an intern [[who examines a patient in the emergency ward of a hospital]] (the rankshifted clause is marked by while the rankshifted group is marked by ) (see Matthiessen 1995: 99 100).
The difference is that little word "who". In "Good things come to he/him who waits," the subject of the verb "waits" is neither "he" nor "him". It's "who". Together they form something called a relative clause, which is really a modifier of a noun or pronoun that comes before it.
Researchers Dr Scott Blinder and William Allen, of Oxford University's Migration Observatory, said: "The predominance of 'illegal' as a modifier of immigrants, and to a lesser extent migrants, clearly stands out.
Bochenek, M., Zalewski, J., Sadowski, J. & Undas, A. Type 2 diabetes as a modifier of fibrin clot properties in patients with coronary artery disease.
These data mandate further mechanistic study to determine the physiological and pathophysiological role of this gene in various tissues and cell types as a modifier of fibrogenesis and a putative therapeutic target.
These findings render the human homologue, SIRT1, a very plausible candidate as a modifier of human life expectancy.
As a continuation of previous work involving synthesis of an allyl-functionalized hyperbranched polyimide, AT-PAEKI, we have studied the use of this reactive polymer as a modifier of bisphenol-A based bismaleimide resin (BPA-BMI).
Lee, C. W. et al. Solution structure and functional characterization of SGTx1, a modifier of Kv2.1 channel gating.
The present study establishes that incompatibility systems can arise in response to identity disequilibrium between a modifier of incompatibility and a locus subject to overdominant viability selection; in particular, compensation for the twofold cost of outcrossing does not require preexisting gametic level disequilibria.
Previous reports have shown that α-cyclodextrin can be used as a carrier of active ingredients, a solubilizer of lipids, a stabilizer of oils, a modifier of flavors or aromas, and a natural soluble dietary fiber (Aytac and Uyar 2016; Li et al. 2010b, 2014a).
