Oh that's a toughie.

If I had been using the morpheme 'you' rather than the morpheme (which is indeed a singular term) y'all, I wouldn't have used the plural, but that's because posessive plural doesn't really work out with 'you'. I'd still say 'your', but there would be an implied plural, because there's really no way to denote plurality when I'm already using another suffix (-r). It'd have to be the dreaded 'you guys's', which always reminds me of Chunk in The Goonies. But anyway, with y'all, since the plural is added as an affix and not a suffix, I could be clearly stating plural and possessive at the same time rather than merely implying the plural. I don't know what I was thinking. Sorry, folks.

I always thought 'y'all' supplied the missing plural 'you' in English, though. In Papua New Guinea Pidgin there is a clear distinction between 'yu' (singular) and 'yupela' (plural), that's missing in standard English, and I thought 'y'all' was intended to supply that added detail. It might have been corrupted for singular use, but probably more when speaking about the individual as a representative of a class than qua the individual...

Don't make me get all Pittsburgh and bust out "yunz" on all y'all.

Nah. Y'all is both singular and plural. "Alla y'all" is not the plural of y'all. It means "all of you," including all members of a group being addressed.

Ex.

Someone has arrived at a party drunk, running their van into one of the several cars jacked up in the yard.

The host might say, in any of the following situations:

(if the van is associated with one individual) "Y'all better git out there and move yer van 'fore my paw gits home!"

(if the van is associated with several individuals at the party, but not all of them) "Y'all better git out there and move yer van 'fore my paw gits home!"

(if ALL of the guests at the party arrived in said van and share responsibility for it) "Alla y'all better git out there and move yer van 'fore my paw gits home!"

Any of which might be followed with a hearty "Got-dam! Summbitch!"

I'm unfamiliar with alla y'all. I've only seen it as all y'all. My mama lives in Virginia so that's where I'm getting this from, I don't know what it's like further west.

Anyhow, in the context that I was using it, all y'all would be totally appropriate, even if we use the 'parts of a whole' definition that you're proposing, Splitcoil.

It's true though that I have heard y'all used where we might use the implied plural 'you', and all y'all generally used where we might say 'you guys/people' or 'all of you', but that y'all might also be used in place of 'you guys'.

Fact of the matter is (although I loved Bravus' post, which made it really sound like y'all served a distict, clear purpose) that people don't apply grammar rules as such in every instance that y'all is used, just like the whole rest of the language, they fudge it up on a regular basis. And I think that the 'parts of a whole' y'all probably varies from region to region anyhow.

I was fortunate enough to learn french in the appalachia, so during conjugation it went:

Je - I
Tu - You
Vous - Y'all

Good times. In my understanding, y'all is you all, but it is used for both singular and plural. We used all y'all mainly for emphasis. All y'all get on up outta here. All y'all best listen. That kind of thing.

in spanish the y'all form is the vosotros but is only found in small areas of spain. in my level five spanish class we aren't even taught it. and wouldn't the comparison with y'all partly be a american southern dialect that has carrried over to the rest of the world?

i think that since the "tu" form in spanish is informal, that the "tu" plural (vosotros) would just be the plural informal, but i can't say for certain.

oh yeah! anyone up for some chess?

Well, vous is either plural you or formal you. I deeply doubt that southern informal you all has gone on to infect the global language pool, unless we're talking hiphop.

uh, yeah jackass. But frankly I've no desire to play you pinklefoot. Perhaps you can find someone else to induldge your BS desire.

quote:

---

uh, yeah jackass. But frankly I've no desire to play you pinklefoot. Perhaps you can find someone else to induldge your BS desire.

---

polite translation:

Yes, and we have a thread for that. Disinfo is currently in the middle of a game, perhaps there's someone else who would be interested. I'd recommend posting about it in the chess thread.

okay, thanks redux. didn't see it. but i don't get the bs part.

i didn't mean that southern dialect has infected the world, but we use of y'all has spread through pop culture and now we are using it as a way to convey the idea of plural you.

if you could give me another rational for using y'all i'll take it. but seeing how redneck hicks have been referenced in this thread.

hurts the net has many language to language digital translators but that was an exquisite interpersonal polite translation.

Nevertheless, I'm still not playing the jackass.

well, now i have a label: the jackass.

alrighty, but i still don't know what "bs" means.
an explanation would be dandy. thanx

awe. the jackass and the hydra won't play together.

re polite translation

You like that? I should follow you around and do it, huh hydra.

hurts was that a poke I just felt???
What do ya make at the bank?
I'll double it for you to be my personal follow me around "exquisite interpersonal polite translator."

oh, and the hydra changed his mind and has offered to play the jackass.
Bets?

bets? you give me your bets, then i'll say i don't know what you're talking about. okay?

but besides that, you want to play hydra? you are the hydra right?

I like the betting idea...

Wow, it's the matchup of the century!

I'm on the edge of my seat.

He replied over in the chess thread, pink. Are we unfamiliar with bulletin boards?