(no subject)

[cyrano]

Posted as a query for the southerners on my list (both of them?):

If somebody types it out as ya'll, have they ever actually spoken the word? Or is this just one of those things where people can't spell?

Comments

[eyelessgame.livejournal.com]

"ya'll" is a contraction of "ya will", where 'ya' is either a foreign word referring to some agent or entity, or a weird dialect version of 'you'.

"y'all" is the second person plural, a word otherwise sadly lacking in mainstream spoken and written English ever since second person singular (thee/thou) vanished and second person plural/familiar took over all second person duties. In southern dialect, this word, unlike 'shit', has only one syllable. Typical usage: "Kin ah he'p y'all?"

In the Northeast, second person plural is "youz", sometimes spelled "youse" but rhyming with "booze", not "mouse".

It's not uncommon to hear "you all" or "you guys" ('guys' being its own weird non-ungendered ungendered self: "even *guys* use 'guys' to refer to a group of women") in other parts of the Amerenglish speaking world. We need a pronoun here.

[tnalpgge.livejournal.com]

I have heard unconfirmed rumors of "yinz" being a second person plural around Pittsburgh, PA. Never heard it in practice, probably because I haven't been within 100 miles of the place, ever.