| 词组 | -ee |
| 释义 | -ee One of the two suffixes -ee in English—the one in trainee, not the one in bootee—comes via Middle English from Middle French. It has proved surprisingly productive in English and is used in many words where various syntactic and formal considerations would have prohibited its use in French. These extensions of the suffix, Jespersen 1905 tells us, first took place in legal language and later reached the general language. The most common use of the suffix is to form what Jespersen calls "passive nouns"—that is, nouns designating the receiver of the action of a verb, words like appointee, draftee, grantee. A number of observers—Bernstein 1977, Follett 1966, Safire 1982, and Gowers in Fowler 1965—are not especially pleased with the productiveness of the suffix; they discourage the coining of such words. But -ee is often used for nonce coinages, often for humorous effect. There seems to be a long-standing tradition of easy witticism based on contrasting -er (or -or) and -ee forms. It can be found as far back as Sterne (who, interestingly enough, felt the suffix still to be French): • The Mortgager and Mortgagee differ the one from the other, not more in length of purse, than the Jester and Jestée do, in that of memory —Tristram Shandy, 1760 And so it has gone, down to our own time. It is probably this sort of joking that lends the humorous or whimsical quality to many coinages: • I have ... a luncheon engagement for Friday which I am now trying to break. The lunchee is out of town —Archibald MacLeish, letter, 24 Nov. 1931 • In times past I was the giver; now things are reversed, and I'm the givee —Harry S. Truman, diary, 14 Feb. 1948 But not all coinages with -ee are whimsical or facetious; your dictionary will show you quite a few that have stuck around as useful. And William Safire in his column has noticed such coinages as asylee for one seeking asylum and mentee for one who learns from a mentor, both of which were apparently intended seriously. Only time will tell if they establish themselves in the language (so far they have not). Some of these same commentators may not like the receiver-of-an-action -ee but have been propelled into embracing it by the appearance of another sense of the suffix that can be viewed as nearly synonymous with -er, that designates more of a doer than a receiver. Gowers in Fowler 1965, for instance, abominates escapee (which see), recommending the older but less used escaper in its place. Gowers is about a century too late to prevent the establishment of escapee (and so are Follett 1966 and Nickles 1974). Since absentee (1605) is about the earliest of the productions of this sense of -ee, you can see how untimely and futile are the complaints. Another commonly mentioned example is standee, which has been with us since around 1880. They may be illogical if the receiver sense is taken as the logical norm, but it's just too late for logicians to turn back the clock. All we can do is accept the fact that a number of these formations exist, as Safire 1982 advises. You do not have to use them yourself, of course. And even logic despairs in some cases. • Mr. Wingate, a periodic contributor, is a Wilmington, Del. retiree —WallStreet Jour., 11 Dec. 1985 What about retiree? Is it "one who has retired" (and thus attackable) or "one who has been retired" (and thus acceptable)? You could argue either side persuasively. But to what end? The word is established in usage. |
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