Date: Fri, 20 Jan 1995 21:14:49 EST

From: Terry Lynn Irons t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MSUACAD.MOREHEAD-ST.EDU

Subject: Re: 2 pl



An earlier contributer contrasts y'all with you guys, asserting that it

will not be replaced with the northern form. Bill writes in

reply:

I have to disagree, Peter. "Y'all" has become pretty ubiquitous. I've

heard lots of folks in the Midwest use it. Southerners may have started

it but it's being picked up by other areas.



BTW: "Y'all" may be short for "you all" but "you all" is never used by any

self-respecting Southerner.



People in the Midwest do not say y'all. They say you all, which is

syntactically a phrase with a head and a quantifier, not a single lexical

item, which y'all is. Y'all is not short for you all but is a

distinct lexical item.



What I wonder is, can the three dialects of English be defined in

terms of the 2 pl. they have created as a result of the loss of the

older distinction, i.e., Northern 'you guys' (youse guys); Southern

'y'all'; Midland 'youns'?









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Terry Lynn Irons t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]msuacad.morehead-st.edu

Voice Mail: (606) 783-5164

Snail Mail: UPO 604 Morehead, KY 40351

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