Y'all
Encyclopedia
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
second-person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
. Commonly believed to have originated in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, it is primarily associated with Southern American English
Southern American English
Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
, African-American Vernacular English, and some dialects of the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It is also found in the English-speaking islands of the West Indies.
Usage
There are currently four generally recognized properties that "y'all" follows:- A replacement for the plural of you.
- Example: "Y'all can use the internet at the same time!"
- An associative plural, including individuals associated but not present with the singular addressee.
- Example: "Y'all can come over at around 10:30," Stephanie says.
- Stephanie explains to John that John and John's friends, who are not present at the time, can come over at around 10:30. Stephanie is speaking to John, but treats John as a representative for others.
- Example: "Y'all can come over at around 10:30," Stephanie says.
- An institutional plural addressed to one person representing a group.
- Example: "Y'all sell the best candies, Mrs. Johnson."
- Y'all is received by Mrs. Johnson who is the representative of a small candy business.
- Example: "Y'all sell the best candies, Mrs. Johnson."
- A form used in direct address in certain contexts (e.g., partings, greetings, invitations, and vocatives)
- Example: "Hey, y'all!"
- A greeting that addresses a multitude of people without referencing a singular identity comprising that multitude
- Example: "Hey, y'all!"
Second-person singular usage
There is long-standing disagreement about whether y'all can have primarily singular reference. While y'all is generally held in the Southern United States to be usable only as the plural form of "you", a scant but vocal minority (for example, Eric Hyman,) argues that the term can be used in the singular as well. 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: "Have y'all [you and others] had dinner yet?" (to which the answer would be, "Yes, we have", by a single person acting as spokesman for the group.)H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
recognized that y'all or you-all will usually have a plural reference, but acknowledged singular reference use has been observed. He stated, appropriate use
Origin
Y'all clearly arose as a contraction of you-all. Y'all fills in the gap of a separate second person plural pronoun in standard English (created when thouThou
The word thou is a second person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in almost all contexts by you. It is used in parts of Northern England and by Scots. Thou is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is thee , and the possessive is thy or thine...
disappeared and you incorporated singular meaning), similar to the phrases you-uns, you lot, or you guys. (Cf. yous, an informal plural second-person pronoun common in Ireland, and often rendered "youse" in Australia and New Zealand, or vosotros ["you others"], the Peninsular Spanish second-person plural, the latter having arisen when vos [originally the second-person plural] became the prevailing polite second-person singular term.)
Though the you all contraction argument may make sense when considering current-day vernacular, it is prudent to consider the vernacular which existed at the time which y'all was likely invented. By the late 18th century, Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
immigrants had settled in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. It is well established that Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
immigrants frequently used the term ye aw. Some evidence suggests that y'all could have evolved from ye aw due to the influence of African slaves who may have adapted the Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
term..
All y'all
While "y'all" is actually a contraction of "you all," it is most commonly used as a plural form of "you." "All y'all," "all of y'all," or "alls y'all" clarifies that the entire group is meant, rather than an undefined subset thereof. Cf. "we" vs. "we all," or "they" vs. "they all."For example
- "Are y'all going to the movies?"
- The thrust of this question is whether movies are in the plans of the group. The asker is not focusing on whether the whole group, or just some of them, are going.
- "Are all y'all going to the movies?"
- Here, the person asking specifically wants to know whether the whole group is going.
Things are further complicated when using the possessive form of the word. For example
- "Is this y'all's car?"
or
- "Is this all y'all's favorite color?"
There is some debate on the spelling of the possessive form of y'all. Some will spell it "y'all's" while others will spell it "y'alls." As there does not seem to be an official answer, it is a matter of personal preference.
See also
- YinzYinzYinz is a second-person plural pronoun used mainly in southwest Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, but it is also found throughout the Appalachians....
- Ye (pronoun)Ye (pronoun)Ye was the second-person, plural, personal pronoun , spelled in Old English as "ge". In Middle English and Early Modern English, it was used to direct an equal or superior person...
- YouYouYou is the second-personpersonal pronoun, both singular and plural, and both nominative and objective case, in Modern English. The oblique/objective form you functioned originally as both accusative and dative)...
- WeWeWe is the first-person, plural personal pronoun in Modern English.- Atypical uses of we : A nosism is the use of 'we' to refer to oneself....
- Southern American EnglishSouthern American EnglishSouthern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
- English personal pronounsEnglish personal pronounsThe personal pronouns in the English language can have various forms according to gender, number, person, and case. Modern English is a language with very little noun or adjective inflection, to the point where some authors describe it as analytic, but the Modern English system of personal pronouns...