prepositional phrases - Zero articles after "of"?

I learned that I always have to use an article before a countable noun with some exceptions.

But I am not sure this is right time to omit the article

The old model of traditional kiln

A new paradigm of tourist attraction

The examples above are excerpted from professional articles and I just wonder they are typo or right usage of zero article.

Thank you!

Answer

Although in general we precede a singular, uncountable noun with a determiner such as the indefinite article a(n) or the definite article the, there are many instances in which we use the zero article (which means no article at all) before such a noun.

We use the zero article when the noun expresses a reference to a general class of things. The most common examples of this usage are phrases which use the expressions kind of, type of, and sort of:

• I like that kind of pickle



• He plays a special type of guitar.


• What sort of car is it?

It is not only after kind of, type of, and sort of that the zero article is used. There are many times when we use a noun to represent a class of things:

• What brand of cracker do you like?


• Ford is my favorite make of automobile.


• Cherry is the best flavor of pie.

In your examples, the nouns kiln and attraction do not refer to specfic, individual things. Instead, they represent kilns and attractions in general:

• The old model of traditional kiln

Kiln here refers not to a specific individual kiln, but to all kilns of the traditonal type (or model.)

• A new paradigm of tourist attraction

Attraction here refers not to a specific individual attraction, but to attractions as a concept.