RETOUR SUR LE COMPLEMENT DE L'ADJECTIF : L'EXEMPLE DE LA CONSTRUCTION XED OUT

Résumé En

This study deals with a very productive adjectival construction, the Xed out construction, which can be paraphrased roughly as 'having done something to excess'; it is said to be modeled on lexicalized adjectives such as worn out, burned out or drugged out. For example, I got all templed out can be understood as I was worn out from visiting too many temples. The construction is maximally expressive in that cause/manner (eg. temple) and effect (worn out…) are conceptualized as a single fused event. What is striking however is that in some instances, an extension in the form of a prepositional phrase is tacked onto the Xed out construction in a somewhat creative way, as in I got templed out from visiting too many historic temples. Relying on the observation of extensive corpus data, the aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of these occurrences. This study sets out to determine whether these PPs should qualify as complements or as adjuncts. The semantic and pragmatic role of these extensions is also examined as well as the issue of meaning construction.