TRANSLATION AND MEANING: A CULTURAL- COGNITIVE ...

up-and-at-'em approach, up-and-coming actor,
Parts of adverbial groups meaning “almost complete or entire”
linked by means of hyphens can be used with adjectival force: An all-butinfinite
variety of phenomena and The best and all-but-sufficing answer.
2.2.8 Numeral Phrases
As elements of phrasal adjectival compounds, the English language
can include numerals conjoined to linkers or prepositions. The form of these
string adjectivals could be represented as:
[[[Num] [PP]] NumP] Nm
The pattern that can be established here is founded upon the several
of many examples: three-by-four meters, five-by-eight inches, one-to-many
game, one-on-one conflict, one-to-one game. The last three examples are
related to different types of competitions, games and sports. Among the
particularly frequent ones we can quote the word one-too-many, or the like,
adjective compounds based on numbers which express the excessiveness or
great number of something. The next model of compounds with numerals
entails cases with postmodified numbers, particularly when one wants to
emphasize something as being unique, as in (5):
(5) A one-of-a-kind book that merits a place on the political science shelf.
2.2.9 Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional phrase structure can be lexicalized and thus assume an
attributive function in contexts such as the one instanced by the next word:
an under-the-weather feeling, the adjectival nature of which is verifiable by
placing the adjective intensifiers such as very in the sentence (6):
[[P] [NP] PP] Nm
(6) I feel very under-the-weather.
Lexicalized PPs can be identified in other cases with compound
prepositions such as: out-of-state, out-of-door, as well as in other situations
the English language abounds in: by-the-way manner, on-the-job training.
2.3 Adjective Phrasal Compounds from Clauses
In written and spoken language, it can be noticed that there are many
more examples of adjective function of PCs from clauses as compared to
their nominal and adverbial jobs. It is rather important to state here that by
lexicalizing a clause structure it does not become an adjective in the proper
sense of the word, but only assumes the attributive function of adjectives.
This is understandable when we try to apply the relevant grammatical
category for adjectives, namely the category of comparison. This holds for
most of the PCs, though, regardless of the presumed class.