Re: CHAT: use of "they"

Nik Taylor wrote:

> In one of my many attempts to make a "con-English" (fictional
> descendant), I made "they" the generic 3rd person pronoun, and created a
> "th'all" for the plural, on analogy with "y'all"  I don't remember how I
> spelled it, tho.
Is that assuming that "y'all" becomes generalized as the second
person plural pronoun, or that this occurs in areas that now use it
(i.e., the South, various nongeographical subcultures around the US)?
There seems to be some evidence, if usually only anecdotal, that
"y'all" is indeed spreading as a plural pronoun, although I think in
most places it's in fierce competition with "you guys", which is
also used in Britain, IIRC.

(For some reason, "y'all" still has a rather ignorant connotation
to this day.  I was just told today by a Canadian friend that when
he was in highschool, there was a Mississippian exchange student
visiting his highschool, and he described her as "y'alling them to
death")



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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
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"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

We look at [the Tao], and do not see it;
  Its name is the Invisible.
                 - Lao Tsu, _Tao Te Ching_

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