Y'all

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Y'all, sometimes incorrectly spelled "Ya'll", "Yawl", or "Yaw", and archaically spelled "You-all", is a fused grammaticalization of the phrase "you all". It is used as a plural second-person pronoun. Commonly believed to have originated in the Southern United States, it is primarily associated with Southern American English, African American Vernacular English, and some dialects of the Western United States.^[1]

Usage

There are currently six recognized properties that y'all follows^[2]:

1. a replacement for plural you
   • Example: "Y'all can each use the internet at the same time"
2. an associative plural, including individuals associated but not present with the singular addressee
   • Example: "We're free after 10," John says. "Y'all can come over at around 10:30," Chris replies.
     • Chris explains to John that he and John's friends, who are not present at the time, can come over at around 10:30. Chris is speaking to John, but treats John as a representative for others (i.e. his friends).
3. an institutional plural addressed to one person representing a group
   • Example: "Y'all sell the best candy in the south, Mrs. Johnson."
     • Y'all is received by Mrs. Johnson who is the representative of a small candy business
4. an unknown potential referent
   • Example: At the sky, Alex yells "Y'all can't beat me!"
     • Alex is yelling at an unknown party
5. a form used in direct address in certain contexts (e.g., partings, greetings, invitations, and vocatives)
   • Example: "Howdy, Y'all"
     • A greeting that addresses a multitude of people without referencing a singular identity comprising that multitude
6. a stylistic choice distinct in tone (e.g., in intimacy, familiarity, and informality)
   • Example: "You all look tuff, but y'all aren't!"
     • Y'all enables a quick four syllable clause that is easier to say than "but you all aren't."

Origin

It is a common belief that y'all was invented by young people in the Southern United States as a replacement for "you all" due to its convenience. Rather than say you all, you-uns, or you guys, y'all may be construed as a single element requiring only one morpheme.

The stress pattern of y'all doesn't favor the contraction you+all because it would likely derive you'll instead of y'all. Some put the apostrophe after the 'a' (e.g. ya'll) suggesting that y'all is a contraction for ya all. This suggests the possibility that y'all derives from the Scots-Irish ye aw.^[3] The invention of y'all from this form has been traced to the influence of African slaves.^[4]

Controversy

There is a long disagreement about whether y'all can have primarily singular reference. While y'all is generally used in the Southern United States as the plural form of "you" a scant but vocal minority argue that the term can be used in the singular.

Adding confusion to this issue is that observers attempting to judge usage may witness a single person addressed as y'all if the speaker implies in the reference other persons not present: Did y'all [you and others] have dinner yet?

It has been argued by one linguist that the singular y'all is in reality a polite form of address, corresponding to 'vous' in French, 'usted' in Spanish, and 'Sie' in German. ^[5]

And a few have noted what this linguist states in the following quote: That y'all or you-all cannot have primarily singular reference ...

is a cardinal article of faith in the South. ... Nevertheless, it has been questioned very often , and with a considerable showing of evidence. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, to be sure, you-all indicates a plural, implicit if not explicit, and thus means, when addressed to a single person, 'you and your folks' or the like, but the hundredth time it is impossible to discover any such extension of meaning.

– H.L. Mencken, 1948, p.337

See also

• Yinz, Yunz, or Youns
• You, You guys
• Yous(e)
• Southern American English
• Florence Y'all Water Tower

References

1. ^ Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speach: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 106 Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Ching, Marvin K. L.: "Plural You/Ya'll Variation by a Court Judge: Situational Use". American Speech - Volume 76, Number 2, Summer 2001, pp. 115-127 Duke University Press
3. ^ Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speach: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 108-109 Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Lipski, John. 1993. Y'all in American English English World-Wide 14:23-56.
5. ^ Estelle Rees Morrison: "American Speech", 1926