Date:  Sun, 23 Jan 1994 13:22:01 CST

From:  "Donald M. Lance" <ENGDL[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIZZOU1.BITNET>

Subject: Re: y'all singular, not!



Rudy,

My earlier message said, in effect, "Y'all may be right." It was Southern

politeness more than Southern insecurity. You laid out the scenario very

well. Unnatural use of 'y'all' also occurs in places like Branson, where

emcees know the busloads of $20 bills expect Southernness, so they use 'y'all'

where plural 'you' would be more natural. We use 'you','you all', AND

'y'all'. An analysis of extended discourse with 2nd pl pronouns would be

interesting. When I read or hear claims by ae-raisers that Southerners use

singular 'y'all' freely (claim based on small sample), I secretly ("politely")

wonder whether the topic of the claim is really language change. After all,

pure Elizabethan English is used in Appalachia and the Ozarks, as we all

know. Now I'm not being polite. Sorry.         DMLance