What does 的 mean in 表示对某人某事的亲近和关心? In the following sentence which explains the usage of ～长～短 phrase:


  中间嵌入两个相同的名词，表示对某人某事的亲近和关心。


I don't understand what the 的 here means. Does it refer to "of ~" but what should be after 的 is omitted here? So without any omission, it should be:


  表示对某人某事的东西亲近和关心。


Or does it modify the noun after that (亲近和关心)? In that case, I don't understand then what is the object of 表示, since the whole phrase is now under a preposition (对).

Or am I missing something here and possibly neither is correct?
表示 (v) = to indicate /to show / to express
对某人某事 = toward some person or something
&quot;对某人某事(的)&quot; = &quot;(of) toward some person or something&quot;
的 functions as an adjectival suffix here. The whole phrase &quot;对某人某事的&quot; is now an adjectival phrase for the object &quot;亲近和关心&quot; (fondness and concern)

[表示] [对某人某事的] [亲近和关心。]
[to express ] [the fondness and concern] [toward some person or something]