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The Yomiuri had this sentence recently:

こんだけ土【つち】のついた野菜【やさい】触【さわ】ったん、初【はじ】めてですわ
I've never touched a vegetable with so much dirt on it before.

I have been told that ん can be an abbreviation of の, making the whole preceding part function like an extended noun phrase subject. If so, would a more grammatically analogous (though less natural-sounding) sentence be...

This is my first touching of a vegetable with so much dirt on it

I have seen the ん hanging on to the ends of phrases such as the one above and was wondering whether I am understanding its function correctly.

Eddie Kal
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Ned Reif
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    Yes, this is correct. – Jimmy Yang Feb 25 '22 at 19:49
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    Your understanding is correct, but this particular use of ん is observed in certain dialects. In standard Japanese, の in that position is not reduced to ん. – aguijonazo Feb 26 '22 at 01:16
  • Related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/39809/what-does-%e3%81%aa%e3%81%ab%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6%e3%81%9f%e3%82%93-mean and https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/78362/what-%e3%81%97%e3%82%82%e3%83%bc%e3%81%9f%e3%82%93-could-mean – sundowner Feb 26 '22 at 13:45

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