Almost every time a preposition, article or determiner is before a word ending with -ern and followed by a noun the word is an adjective or the name of a place.
1 IN (II) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 29239
2 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 26031
3 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 20522
4 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) ART (NN1) 14358
5 IN (II) WESTERN (NP1) AUSTRALIA (NP1) 13157
6 IN (II) MODERN (JJ) TIMES (NNT2) 11234
7 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 10597
8 IN (II) EASTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 10251
9 OF (IO) WESTERN (NP1) AUSTRALIA (NP1) 9404
10 IN (II) WESTERN (NP1) EUROPE (NP1) 8962
11 OF (IO) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 7823
12 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) LIFE (NN1) 6339
13 AT (II) NORTHWESTERN (JJ) UNIVERSITY (NN1) 5261
14 IN (II) WESTERN (NP1) CANADA (NP1) 4615
15 OF (IO) WESTERN (NP1) ONTARIO (NP1) 4279
16 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 4146
17 OF (IO) EASTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 3950
18 FOR (IF) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 3835
19 OF (IO) WESTERN (NP1) EUROPE (NP1) 3744
20 OF (IO) WESTERN (JJ_NP1) CIVILIZATION (NN1) 3742
21 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) DAY (NNT1) 3729
22 TO (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 3716
23 IN (II) MODERN (JJ) HISTORY (NN1) 3569
24 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) AFRICA (NP1) 3523
25 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) TECHNOLOGY (NN1) 3456
26 TO (II) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 3403
27 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 3381
28 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) ONTARIO (NP1) 3301
29 IN (II) MODERN (JJ) SOCIETY (NN1) 3285
30 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) VIRGINIA (NP1) 3284
31 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) SCIENCE (NN1) 3088
32 FROM (II) NORTHWESTERN (JJ) UNIVERSITY (NN1) 3068
33 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) ITALY (NP1) 3013
34 FROM (II) EASTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 2959
35 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) TIMES (NNT2) 2916
36 FROM (II) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 2825
37 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) NEW (NP1) 2802
38 IN (II) EASTERN (JJ) UKRAINE (NP1) 2682
39 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ONTARIO (NP1) 2651
40 IN (II) MODERN (JJ) DAY (NNT1) 2561
41 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) IRAQ (NP1) 2450
42 IN (II_RP@) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 2416
43 FROM (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 2405
44 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) SOCIETY (NN1) 2399
45 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) FRANCE (NP1) 2301
46 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) FRANCE (NP1) 2237
47 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) SYRIA (NP1) 2176
48 IN (II) WESTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 2160
49 IN (II) WESTERN (JJ_NP1) COUNTRIES (NN2) 2160
50 WITH (IW) MODERN (JJ) TECHNOLOGY (NN1) 2118
51 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) MEDICINE (NN1) 2108
52 TO (II) MODERN (JJ) DAY (NNT1) 2046
53 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ITALY (NP1) 2015
54 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) MISSISSIPPI (NP1) 1997
55 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) VIRGINIA (NP1) 1938
56 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) COLORADO (NP1) 1836
57 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) IOWA (NP1) 1836
58 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) AFRICA (NP1) 1835
59 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 1818
60 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 1808
61 TO (II) MODERN (JJ) TIMES (NNT2) 1757
62 IN (II) EASTERN (JJ) CANADA (NP1) 1721
63 BY (II) MODERN (JJ) STANDARDS (NN2) 1703
64 IN (II) WESTERN (JJ) CANADA (NP1) 1623
65 IN (II) WESTERN (NP1) NEW (NP1) 1596
66 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) ENGLAND (NP1) 1574
67 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ENGLAND (NP1) 1558
68 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) INDIA (NP1) 1547
69 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) NEW (NP1) 1545
70 IN (II) EASTERN (JJ) NORTH (ND1) 1510
71 AT (II) NORTHEASTERN (JJ) UNIVERSITY (NN1) 1508
72 ACROSS (II) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 1497
73 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) WARFARE (NN1) 1478
74 TO (II) EASTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 1430
75 IN (II) WESTERN (JJ_NP1) CULTURE (NN1) 1424
76 WITH (IW) MODERN (JJ) AMENITIES (NN2) 1400
77 OF (IO) WESTERN (JJ_NP1) CULTURE (NN1) 1375
78 AT (II) WESTERN (NP1) MICHIGAN (NP1) 1334
79 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) NEVADA (NP1) 1315
80 AT (II) WESTERN (JJ_NP1) UNIVERSITY (NN1) 1296
81 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) SPAIN (NP1) 1247
82 IN (II) NORTHERN (JJ) MICHIGAN (NP1) 1244
83 IN (II) SOUTHWESTERN (JJ) ONTARIO (NP1) 1230
84 TO (II) NORTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 1227
85 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) DESIGN (NN1) 1223
86 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) HUMANS (NN2) 1217
87 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) INDIA (NP1) 1212
88 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) ITALY (NP1) 1200
89 OF (IO) NORTHERN (JJ) NEW (NP1) 1200
90 OF (IO) WESTERN (JJ) EUROPE (NP1) 1190
91 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ALBERTA (NP1) 1185
92 FROM (II) NORTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 1177
93 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) MAINE (NP1) 1175
94 IN (II) EASTERN (JJ) WASHINGTON (NP1) 1164
95 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ILLINOIS (NP1) 1160
96 OF (IO) WESTERN (NP1) SYDNEY (NP1) 1151
97 AT (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) ILLINOIS (NP1) 1149
98 FROM (II) NORTHEASTERN (JJ) UNIVERSITY (NN1) 1149
99 TO (II) WESTERN (NP1) EUROPE (NP1) 1147
100 OF (IO) MODERN (JJ) ARCHITECTURE (NN1) 1146