-ness words as count nouns?

Question

I came across this sentence in a book:

He was astonishingly humble, exhibited great charitableness and such a sweetness and meekness that he would often shed tears at a sad story.

It seems strange to me that the author treats charitableness as a mass noun, while sweetness is preceded with an indefinite article. Is this construction lawful/grammatical? What is this grammatical phenomenon called?

Related: A blinding light / blinding sunlight / a blinding sunlight — Lawrence, Feb 22 '18 at 03:33
That's purely a question of choice and style. How d'you think the meaning would change if the original had been "such sweetness" without the "a", please? — Robbie Goodwin, Feb 23 '18 at 21:10
Does this answer your question? A blinding light / blinding sunlight / a blinding sunlight — Edwin Ashworth, May 24 '20 at 14:42

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 22 '18 at 10:38

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Every word ending with -ness is a noun and can be used as such

a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state): Source

answered Feb 22 '18 at 10:38

Robert S.

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The question is about using 'a' with apparent non-count nouns, not fundamentally about nouns ending in -ness. – Edwin Ashworth May 24 '20 at 14:47

-ness words as count nouns?

1 Answers1