传统语法没有限定词。限定词是现代语法术语，是现代英语语法十二大词类之一。那么，a piece of meat, a glass of water, this kind of research中的 a piece of, a glass of, this kind of 是不是限定词，我们就只能以现代语法书对限定词的定义以及例句为准。

下面我们看看夸克《英语语法大全》的有关内容：

夸克在《大全》名词与限定词一章是这样定义限定词的：（P 253）

When used in discourse, noun phrases refer to the linguistic or situational context. The kind of reference a particular noun phrase has depends on its DETERMINATIVE element, i.e. the item which 'determines' it. This function is typically realized by a set of closed-class items, or DETERMINERS, which occur before the noun acting as head of the noun phrase (or before its premodifiers).

即限定词是位于名词词组中心词之前用来明确该名词词组的语言学或情景所指的一个封闭词类。

夸克在该章逐个介绍了前位限定词、中位限定词、和后位限定词。其中并没有诸如 a piece of, a glass of, this kind of 的词项。

相反，在该章名词分类部分，对名词的再分类中，分出了单位词结构partitive construction:

( 第249页）

Partition in respect of quality

5.6 Both count and noncount nouns can enter partitive constructions, ie constructions denoting a part of a whole. Such constructions express both quality partition (eg: a kind of paper) and quantity partition (eg: a piece of paper). Quality partition is expressed by a partitive count noun like kind, sort, or type followed by an of-phrase, eg:
SINGULAR PARTITIVES                      PLURAL PARTITIVES
a new kind of computer                         new kinds of computers
a delicious sort of bread                        delicious sorts of bread
another type ofresearch                        other types of research
Quality partition of noncount nouns may thus be expressed either by a partitive construction or by reclassification (cf 5.5):
a nice kind of coffee - a nice coffee
English types of cheese - English cheeses

... ...

Partition in respect of quantity

(a) Noncount nouns
Noncount nouns are seen, as we have said, as denoting an undifferentiated mass. However, the expression of quantity and thus countability may be achieved by means of certain GENERAL PARTITIVE NOUNS, in particular piece, bit, item, followed by an of-phrase:
SINGULAR PARTITIVES                    PLURAL PARTITIVES
a piece of cake                                     two pieces of cake
a bit of chalk                                         some bits of chalk
an item of news                                    several items of news
Quantity of noncount nouns may thus often be expressed either by partitive

很显然，夸克认为 a piece of, a kind of 结构并不是限定词，而是名词词组的亚分类——单位词结构，用来表示一个整体的一部分。那么，在 a glass of water 和 this kind of research 这个名词词组中，究竟是 a glass of 和 this kind of 分别前置修饰water 和 research， 还是of 介词短语修饰前面的名词呢？

《大全》在第1278页介绍介词短语作名词后置修饰语这一部分关于‘S属格与of介词短语作后置修饰语的选择部分，举了下述二个例子：（英文版第 1278 页）

a glass of water,     不能说 a water's glass

this kind of research,    不能说 this research's kind

很显然，这里夸克将 of water 和 of research 分别分析为 a glass 和 this kind 的后置修饰语。

由此我们可以得出结论：限定词是现代语法术语。夸克的《现代语法大全》认为 a piece of, a glass of 不是限定词，而是名词分类中的一个亚类——单位词结构，表示一个整体中的一部分。其中of 介词短语后置修饰单位名词。