AZ connects the word "as" back to certain verbs that can take "object-as-adjective" as a complement:
+---AZ---+
+-O--+ +-Pa-+
| | | |
She viewed him as stupid
"As" thus has AZ- conjoined with
Pa+
(used in ordinary predicate
uses of adjectives). Verbs like "view" and "describe" have
"O+ & {AZ+}", disjoined with other complement connectors.