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Re: English 2sg/pl

From:Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...>
Date:Saturday, May 10, 2003, 2:41
Stone Gordonssen wrote:
> > Anyone familar with the progression: > _you_ 2sl > _y'all_ 2pl > _all y'all_ 2pl but but more persons than _y'all_
For me, "all y'all" means "All of y'all", just like "We all/all of us" or "they all/all of them". For example, "I beat all y'all" -> "He beat us all/all of us" Also, in my idiolect, "y'all" is for 3 or more. "You guys" or "You two" is used for dual. However, that's just an idiolectal feature, and most people I knew in Florida had no qualms about using "y'all" for a dual. I suspect it's because I recognize the "all" morpheme in "y'all", whereas most people analyze it as a single unit (as shown also by the common alternate spelling "ya'll", showing, to my mind, a lack of morphemic boundaries combined with the knowledge that there's an apostrophe in the word) -- "There's no such thing as 'cool'. Everyone's just a big dork or nerd, you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." - overheard ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42