Did English ever have a formal version of “you”?

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by cobralibre on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @12:40AM (#7216004)

Fellow Texan here. "Y'all" is plural, but certainly not formal.

I hasten to add that "y'all" is clearly not used exclusively by Texans.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by jychang on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @01:38AM (#7216182)

Y'all is singular. "All y'all" is plural.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by bane on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @01:42AM (#7216203)

If the group being spoken to is exceptionally large, or it's clearly a group made of smaller groups (a group of groups), in some places "Alls y'all" is used. It's fascinating to note it when you hear it.

edit also, if there's a possessive it gets pretty crazy, for example a tour guide, assembling several groups for a tour might say "Let's get together for alls y'all's tour".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by kjs3 on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @02:09PM (#7219644)

Native of Georgia (US) here. We use "all y'all" as a possessive. I've never heard "alls y'all's" here, but have in the Southwest and thought it was linguistically slightly excessive. :-)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by kendalk on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @01:52AM (#7216225)

Oklahoman here. We say "y'all" as plural. We also say "you all."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Did English ever have a formal version of “you”? by kjs3 on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @11:14PM (#7222445)

Y'all is most certainly plural where I'm from (Southeast US).

[ Parent | on HN ]