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Re: The future of the English second person plural (was Re: Aquestion)

From:Patrick Dunn <tb0pwd1@...>
Date:Saturday, August 14, 1999, 20:54
On Sat, 14 Aug 1999, Tom Wier wrote:

> Barry Garcia wrote: > > > I have noticed among my peers that we often say either <y'all> or <you > > guys> when we mean second person plural. I hardly ever use <you> for the > > second person plural because to me it doesnt sound right (even though it's > > correct). When i did my pronoun charts for my conlangs i used <you all> > > instead of just <you> because i noticed in my language classes using <you> > > for the 2nd person plural gets confused with 1st person singular <you>. > > > > Personally, i see <y'all> becomming used much more often. Especially with > > people who come from this area (Monterey), and even the Bay Area. As my > > generation gets older i see <y'all> being used more than <you guys> > > I find it very interesting that you say this, because I have always gotten the > impression from people outside the South that it's very looked down upon, > that educated people wouldn't be caught dead, so to speak, saying it, because > it marks you as a "hick". I'm happy to see that I'm mistaken in that respect. :)
Around here, that seems to be the consensus (ironic, considering most of the people around here *are* hicks!) It appears that yous and youguys (sometimes yousguys, although not often) are the favorite forms of the northern midwest. --Patrick