[Ads-l] Asylee

[Laurence Horn]

Not all -ee nouns correspond to the direct or indirect object of a transitive verb (or the subject of an intransitive, as with “standee”, “escapee”, “signee”), especially innovative ones: “amputee”, “biographee”, “festschriftee”, “experimentee”, “laughee”, “snoree”, “fantasizee”, “return-addressee"—and of course “refugee”.  For a nice treatment of both lexicalized and innovative -ee nouns is Chris Barker’s 1995 paper “Episodic -ee in English”.

LH

> On Mar 26, 2019, at 6:22 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
> 
> A little like the noun "mentee" for 'one being mentored'--as if derived from a verb "ment."
> 
> 
> In this case the imagined verb would be, what, "asyl"?
> 
> 
> --Charlie
> 
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 10:15:42 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Asylee
> 
> A new one for me,* meaning "asylum seeker, or one who has been granted
> asylum". Seen in a general message to my synagogue's membership:
> 
> "...support the family in navigating all of the complex systems that
> asylees are up against..."
> 
> * But clearly not to the lexicographic community or other interested
> parties:
> •Oxford says "a person who is seeking or has been granted political asylum"
> (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/asylee)
> • Merriam-Webster's def is almost identical.
> • USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Dept. of
> Homeland Security; https://www.uscis.gov/aboutus): An alien in the United
> States or at a port of entry who is found to be unable or unwilling to
> return to his or her country of nationality, or to seek the protection of
> that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution.
> Persecution or the fear thereof must be based on the alien’s race,
> religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
> political opinion. For persons with no nationality, the country of
> nationality is considered to be the country in which the alien last
> habitually resided.
> •  Dept. of Homeland Security also explains a distinction (
> https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/refugees-asylees): A refugee is
> a person outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or
> unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality because of
> persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
> religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
> political opinion. An asylee is a person who meets the definition of
> refugee and is already present in the United States or is seeking admission
> at a port of entry. Refugees are required to apply for Lawful Permanent
> Resident (“green card”) status one year after being admitted, and asylees
> may apply for green card status one year after their grant of asylum.
> 
> Mark Mandel
> 
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