On The Verb-Object Construction With An Adjective-Performed Object

This article discusses the verb-object construction in which the adjective functions as the object (hereinafter referred to as the V-O construction with an adjective-performed object). Few current study deal with V-O construction with an adjective-performed object. Generally, the theses research into the situation where the predicate functions as the object. And the researches mostly give a brief description of the verbs and adjectives in such verb-object phrases. Based on the summaries of previous studies,this article detailedly analyses the verbs and adjectives of these phrases, the cognitive level, syntactic functions, semantic and pragmatic features of these phrases.The paper is divided into five parts.The introduction briefly reviews the research status of the situation where the adjective functions as the object. Currently, few studies are made on the verb-object construction with an adjective-performed object. Such studies are more scattered in the papers and are not in-depth or thorough enough yet, therefore, this paper attenmpts to have a more systematic and comprehensive analysis.The first part of the main body discusses the verb in the V-O construction with an adjective-performed object. From the exhaustive statistics of "Verb Usage Dictionary", we choose 135 verbs that can take adjective-performed objects (hereinafter referred to as the verb with an adjective-performed object). First, the verb with an adjective-performed object is defined; second, the verbs are divided into four categories; and then the author analyzes the semantic types of these verbs. lastly, the characteristics of verbs are discussed.The second part is the body which discusses the adjective that functions as the object. Firstly, adjective-performed objects are defined. Adjective-performed objects include both the single adjectives and the phrases with adjective forces whose qualified words are adjectives; secondly, adjective-performed objects are classified; finally, the reason why adjectives can be used as objectives are analyzed.The third part analyzes the V-O construction with an adjective-performed object from the cognitive aspect. And from the three respects of cognitively mutual selectivity of the verbs and adjectives, prototype category theory and figure-ground distinction theory, it analyzes the cognitive features of such verb-object construction.The fourth part grasps the features of the V-O construction with an adjective-performed object on the whole from the aspects of syntax, semantics and pragmatics.Firstly,we discuss the syntatic functions of these phrases; secondly,we analyze the semantic relationship between verbs and adjectives; finally, the characteristics of these phrases are researched from the aspect of pragmatics.