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The Florence Y'all Water Tower in Florence, Kentucky; the words were painted in 1974.^[1]

Y'all (pronounced /jɔːl/ yawl^[2]) is a contraction of you and all, sometimes combined as you-all. Y'all is the main second-person plural pronoun in Southern American English, with which it is most frequently associated,^[3] though it also appears in some other English varieties, including African-American English, South African Indian English and Sri Lankan English. It is usually used as a plural second-person pronoun, but whether it is exclusively plural is a perennial subject of discussion.

History

Y'all is a contraction of you all. The spelling you-all in second-person plural pronoun usage was first recorded in 1824.^[4]^[5] The earliest two attestations with the actual spelling y'all are from 1856,^[6] and in the Southern Literary Messenger (published in Richmond, Virginia) in 1858.^[7] Although it appeared in print sporadically in the second half of the nineteenth century in the Southern United States, its usage did not accelerate as a whole Southern regional phenomenon until the twentieth century.^[8]

It is not certain whether its use began specifically with black or white residents of the South, both of whom use the term today;^[9] one possibility is that the term was brought by Scots-Irish immigrants to the South, evolving from the earlier Ulster Scots term ye aw.^[10]^[11]^[12] An alternative theory is that y'all is a calque of Gullah and Caribbean creole via earlier dialects of African-American English.^[13] However, most linguists agree that y'all is likely an original form, deriving from original processes of grammar and morphological change, rather than being directly transferred from any other English dialects.^[13]

Y'all appeared at different times in various dialects of English, including Southern American English and South African Indian English, suggesting parallel, independent development,^[14] while emergence in Southern and African-American Vernacular English closely correlates in time and place.

The spelling y'all is the most prevalent in print, ten times that of ya'll;^[15] much less common spelling variants include yall, yawl, and yo-all.^[9]

Linguistic characteristics

Functionally, the emergence of y'all can be traced to the merging of singular ("thou") and plural ("ye") second-person pronouns in Early Modern English.^[13] Y'all thus fills in the gap created by the absence of a separate second-person plural pronoun in standard modern English. Y'all is unique in that the stressed form that it contracts (you-all) is converted to an unstressed form.^[15]

The usage of y'all can satisfy several grammatical functions, including an associative plural, a collective pronoun, an institutional pronoun, and an indefinite pronoun.^[10]^[16]

Y'all can in some instances serve as a "tone-setting device to express familiarity and solidarity."^[17] When used in the singular, y'all can be used to convey a feeling of warmth towards the addressee.^[18] In this way, singular usage of y'all differs from French, Russian or German, where plural forms can be used for formal singular instances.^[18]

Singular usage

There is historic disagreement whether y'all is primarily or exclusively plural,^[13] with debate steming from the late nineteenth century to the present.^[16] While some Southerners hold y'all is only properly used as a plural pronoun, counter evidence suggests usage include singular references,^[9]^[15]^[18]^[19] particularly amongst non-Southerners.^[20]

H. L. Mencken, in recognizing the typical plural reference of y'all or you-all, acknowledged occasional observation of the singular reference, writing that the exclusive plural usage of y'all

is a cardinal article of faith in the South. ... Nevertheless, it has been questioned very often, and with a considerable showing of evidence. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, to be sure, you-all indicates a plural, implicit if not explicit, and thus means, when addressed to a single person, 'you and your folks' or the like, but the hundredth time it is impossible to discover any such extension of meaning.
— H. L. Mencken, The American Language Supplement 2: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States, 1948, p.337^[21]

Possessive forms

The existence of the genitive (or possessive) form y'all's indicates that y'all functions as a pronoun as opposed to a phrasal element.^[17] The possessive form of y'all has not been standardized; numerous forms can be found, including y'alls, y'all's, y'alls's, you all's, your all's, and all of y'all's.^[16]

All y'all

All y'all, all of y'all, and alls y'all are used by some speakers to indicate a larger group than is necessarily implied by simply y'all.^[22] All y'all can also be used for emphasis; the existence of this etymologically pleonastic form is further evidence that speakers now perceive y'all as a grammatically indivisible unit.^[16]

Regional usage

Frequency of "y'all" to address multiple people, according to a 2011 survey of American dialect variation^[23]

United States

Y'all has been called "perhaps the most distinctive of all grammatical characteristics" of Southern American English.^[13] Linguist Walt Wolfram and English professor Jeffrey Reaser wrote, "No word in the American English vocabulary probably carries as much regional capital."^[24] People who move to the South from other regions often adopt the usage, even when other regional usages are not adopted.^[25] Outside the southern United States, y'all is most closely associated with African-American Vernacular English.^[26] African Americans took Southern usages with them during the twentieth-century exodus from the South to cities in the northeastern United States and other places within the nation. In urban African-American communities outside of the South, the usage of y'all is prominent.^[27]

The use of y'all as the dominant second person-plural pronoun is not necessarily universal in the Southern United States. In some dialects of the Ozarks and Great Smoky Mountains, for example, it is common to hear you'uns (a contraction of "you ones") used instead.^[16] In the Missouri Ozarks (and adjoining regions of the state), "you-all" is the preferred form, though “all y’all” may be indicated, depending upon context. Other forms have also been used increasingly in the South, including you guys.^[16]

A survey conducted in 1996 reported 49% of non-Southerners and 84% of Southerners used y'all or you-all in conversation, with a 1994 survey returning a 5% increase by both groups.^[16]

South Africa

In South Africa, y'all appears across all varieties of South African Indian English.^[28] Its lexical similarity to the y'all of the United States may be coincidental.^[28]

Rest of the world

Y'all appears in other dialects of English, including Maori English in New Zealand, Sri Lankan English^[29] and dialects of St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha,^[30] and Newfoundland and Labrador.^[31]

References

^ "Water towers loom large". The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 7, 2001. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
^ you-all Archived March 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine and y'all Archived July 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Dictionary.com. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 2019.
^ Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 106 Cambridge University Press
^ Harper, Douglas. "y'all". Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ Bailey, Guy (1997). "When did southern American English begin?" Englishes around the world, 1, 255-275.
^ Parker, David B. (2015). "Y’all: It’s Older Than We Knew Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine". History News Network.
^ Parker, David B. "Y'All: Two Early Examples." American Speech 81.1 (2006): 110-112. .
^ Devlin, Thomas Moore (2019). "The Rise Of Y'all And The Quest For A Second-Person Plural Pronoun Archived June 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine". Babbel. Lesson Nine GmbH.
^ ^a ^b ^c Crystal, David. The Story of English in 100 Words Archived September 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2011. p. 190.
^ ^a ^b Montgomery, Michael. "British and Irish antecedents" Archived September 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6, John Algeo, ed. 1992. p.149.
^ Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 108-109 Cambridge University Press
^ Lipski, John. 1993. "Y'all in American English," English World-Wide 14:23-56.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Schneider, Edgar W. "The English dialect heritage of the southern United States" Archived September 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from Legacies of Colonial English, Raymond Hickey, ed. 2005. p.284.
^ Hickey, Raymond. A Dictionary of Varieties of English Archived October 13, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2013. p.231.
^ ^a ^b ^c Garner, Bryan. Garner's Modern American Usage Archived September 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2009. p.873.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bernstein, Cynthia. "Grammatical features of southern speech" Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, from English in the Southern United States, Stephen J. Nagle, et al. eds. 2003. pp.107-109.
^ ^a ^b Hickey, Raymond. "Rectifying a standard deficiency" Archived September 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from Diachronic Perspectives on Address Term Systems. Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas Juncker, eds. 2003. p.352.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lerner, Laurence. You Can't Say That! English Usage Today Archived September 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2010. p. 218.
^ Hyman, Eric (2006). "The All of You-All". American Speech. 81 (3): 325–331. doi:10.1215/00031283-2006-022.
^ Okrent, Anrika (September 14, 2014). "Can Y'all Be Used to Refer to a Single Person?". The Week. The Week Publications. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
^ Mencken, H.L. (April 4, 2012). The American Language Supplement 2: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States. A. Knopf ebook. ISBN 9780307813442. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
^ Simpson, Teresa R. "How to Use "Y'all" Correctly". Archived from the original on November 18, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
^ "Dialect Survey Results". Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
^ Wolfram, Walt; Reaser, Jeffrey (2014). Talkin' Tar Heel : How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4696-1437-3.
^ Montgomery, Michael. "Y'all" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 5: Language. Michael Montgomery et al. eds. 2007.
^ Baugh, John. Beyond Ebonics. 2000. p.106
^ Wright, Susan. "'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second person plural pronouns in Englishes" Archived April 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, from Taming the Vernacular, Jenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein, Eds. Routledge, 2014. p.177.
^ ^a ^b Mesthrie, Rajend. "South African Indian English", from Focus on South Africa Archived August 4, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Vivian de Klerk, ed. 1996. pp.88-89.
^ Groundviews
^ Schreier, Daniel. "St Helenian English" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. pp.235-237, 254.
^ Clarke, Sandra. "Newfoundland and Labrador English" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. p.85.

[1] "Water towers loom large". The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 7, 2001. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2010.

[2] you-all Archived March 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine and y'all Archived July 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Dictionary.com. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 2019.

[3] Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 106 Cambridge University Press

[4] Harper, Douglas. "y'all". Online Etymology Dictionary.

[5] Bailey, Guy (1997). "When did southern American English begin?" Englishes around the world, 1, 255-275.

[6] Parker, David B. (2015). "Y’all: It’s Older Than We Knew Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine". History News Network.

[Parker-7] Parker, David B. "Y'All: Two Early Examples." American Speech 81.1 (2006): 110-112. .

[Devlin-8] Devlin, Thomas Moore (2019). "The Rise Of Y'all And The Quest For A Second-Person Plural Pronoun Archived June 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine". Babbel. Lesson Nine GmbH.

[Crystal-9] Crystal, David. The Story of English in 100 Words Archived September 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2011. p. 190.

[Montgomery-10] Montgomery, Michael. "British and Irish antecedents" Archived September 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6, John Algeo, ed. 1992. p.149.

[11] Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". English in the Southern United States, 2003, pp. 108-109 Cambridge University Press

[12] Lipski, John. 1993. "Y'all in American English," English World-Wide 14:23-56.

[Schneider-13] Schneider, Edgar W. "The English dialect heritage of the southern United States" Archived September 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from Legacies of Colonial English, Raymond Hickey, ed. 2005. p.284.

[Hickey-14] Hickey, Raymond. A Dictionary of Varieties of English Archived October 13, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2013. p.231.

[Garner-15] Garner, Bryan. Garner's Modern American Usage Archived September 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2009. p.873.

[Bernstein-16] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bernstein, Cynthia. "Grammatical features of southern speech" Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, from English in the Southern United States, Stephen J. Nagle, et al. eds. 2003. pp.107-109.

[Hickey2-17] Hickey, Raymond. "Rectifying a standard deficiency" Archived September 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from Diachronic Perspectives on Address Term Systems. Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas Juncker, eds. 2003. p.352.

[Lerner-18] Lerner, Laurence. You Can't Say That! English Usage Today Archived September 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 2010. p. 218.

[19] Hyman, Eric (2006). "The All of You-All". American Speech. 81 (3): 325–331. doi:10.1215/00031283-2006-022.

[singular-20] Okrent, Anrika (September 14, 2014). "Can Y'all Be Used to Refer to a Single Person?". The Week. The Week Publications. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.

[21] Mencken, H.L. (April 4, 2012). The American Language Supplement 2: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States. A. Knopf ebook. ISBN 9780307813442. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2014.

[22] Simpson, Teresa R. "How to Use "Y'all" Correctly". Archived from the original on November 18, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.

[www4.uwm.edu-23] "Dialect Survey Results". Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2012.

[24] Wolfram, Walt; Reaser, Jeffrey (2014). Talkin' Tar Heel : How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4696-1437-3.

[Montgomery2-25] Montgomery, Michael. "Y'all" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 5: Language. Michael Montgomery et al. eds. 2007.

[26] Baugh, John. Beyond Ebonics. 2000. p.106

[27] Wright, Susan. "'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second person plural pronouns in Englishes" Archived April 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, from Taming the Vernacular, Jenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein, Eds. Routledge, 2014. p.177.

[Mesthrie-28] Mesthrie, Rajend. "South African Indian English", from Focus on South Africa Archived August 4, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Vivian de Klerk, ed. 1996. pp.88-89.

[29] Groundviews

[30] Schreier, Daniel. "St Helenian English" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. pp.235-237, 254.

[31] Clarke, Sandra. "Newfoundland and Labrador English" Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, from The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. p.85.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{short description|Contraction of you and all}}
+{{Short description|Contraction of you and all}}
 {{Use American English|date=April 2021}}
 {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
+{{Italics title}}
-[[File:Florence-yall.jpg|frame|right|The [[Florence Y'all Water Tower]] in [[Florence, Kentucky]]; the words were painted in 1974<ref>{{cite web | title= Water towers loom large | url= http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/04/07/loc_water_towers_loom.html | work= [[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] | date= April 7, 2001 | access-date= 2010-07-08 | archive-date= April 24, 2022 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220424220901/https://www.cincinnati.com/ | url-status= live }}</ref>]]
+[[File:Florence-yall.jpg|frame|right|The [[Florence Y'all Water Tower]] in [[Florence, Kentucky]]; the words were painted in 1974.<ref>{{cite web | title= Water towers loom large | url= http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/04/07/loc_water_towers_loom.html | work= [[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] | date= April 7, 2001 | access-date= 2010-07-08 | archive-date= April 24, 2022 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220424220901/https://www.cincinnati.com/ | url-status= live }}</ref>]]
-'''''Y'all''''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|pron|j|ɔː|l}} {{respell|yawl}}<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/you-all you-all] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327165650/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/you-all |date=March 27, 2019 }} and [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/y-all y'all] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710231237/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/y-all |date=July 10, 2019 }}. ''Dictionary.com''. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 2019.</ref>) is a [[Contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of ''[[you]]'' and ''all'', sometimes combined as ''you-all''. ''Y'all'' is the main second-person plural pronoun in [[Southern American English]], with which it is most frequently associated,<ref>Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". ''English in the Southern United States'', 2003, pp. 106 Cambridge University Press</ref> though it also appears in some other English varieties, including [[African-American English]] and [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]]. It is usually used as a plural [[Grammatical person|second-person]] [[pronoun]], but whether it is exclusively plural is a perennial subject of discussion.
+'''''Y'all''''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|pron|j|ɔː|l}} {{respell|yawl}}<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/you-all you-all] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327165650/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/you-all |date=March 27, 2019 }} and [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/y-all y'all] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710231237/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/y-all |date=July 10, 2019 }}. ''Dictionary.com''. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 2019.</ref>) is a [[Contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of ''[[you]]'' and ''all'', sometimes combined as ''you-all''. ''Y'all'' is the main [[Personal pronoun#Person and number|second-person plural pronoun]] in [[Southern American English]], with which it is most frequently associated,<ref>Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". ''English in the Southern United States'', 2003, pp. 106 Cambridge University Press</ref> though it also appears in some other English varieties, including [[African-American English]], [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]] and [[Sri Lankan English]]. It is usually used as a plural [[Grammatical person|second-person]] [[pronoun]], but whether it is exclusively plural is a perennial subject of discussion.
 ==History==
 ''Y'all'' is a contraction of ''you all''. The spelling ''you-all'' in second-person plural pronoun usage was first recorded in 1824.<ref>{{OEtymD|y'all}}</ref><ref>Bailey, Guy (1997). "When did southern American English begin?" Englishes around the world, 1, 255-275.</ref> The earliest two attestations with the actual spelling ''y'all'' are from 1856,<ref>Parker, David B. (2015). "[https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159662 Y’all: It’s Older Than We Knew] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917012150/https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159662 |date=September 17, 2020 }}". ''History News Network''.</ref> and in the ''[[Southern Literary Messenger]]'' (published in [[Richmond, Virginia]]) in 1858.<ref name="Parker">Parker, David B. "Y'All: Two Early Examples." ''American Speech'' 81.1 (2006): 110-112. .</ref> Although it appeared in print sporadically in the second half of the nineteenth century in the [[Southern United States]], its usage did not accelerate as a whole Southern regional phenomenon until the twentieth century.<ref name="Devlin">Devlin, Thomas Moore (2019). "[https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/rise-of-yall The Rise Of Y'all And The Quest For A Second-Person Plural Pronoun] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606124518/https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/rise-of-yall |date=June 6, 2020 }}". ''Babbel''. Lesson Nine GmbH.</ref>
-It is not certain whether its use began specifically with black or white residents of the South, both of whom use the term today;<ref name = "Crystal">Crystal, David. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4djICT7zgGoC&q=%22local+usage%22 ''The Story of English in 100 Words''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928222752/https://books.google.com/books?id=4djICT7zgGoC&q=%22local+usage%22 |date=September 28, 2020 }}. 2011. p. 190.</ref> one possibility is that the term was brought by [[Scots-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] immigrants to the South, evolving from the earlier [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]] term ''ye aw''.<ref name = "Montgomery">Montgomery, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ia5tHVtQPn8C&pg=PA149&dq=%22y%27all%22+etymology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tYgLVM6_JITjsASK54HYBQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20etymology&f=false "British and Irish antecedents"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928020801/https://books.google.com/books?id=ia5tHVtQPn8C&pg=PA149&dq=%22y%27all%22+etymology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tYgLVM6_JITjsASK54HYBQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20etymology&f=false |date=September 28, 2020 }}, from ''The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6'', John Algeo, ed. 1992. p.149.</ref><ref>Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". ''English in the Southern United States'', 2003, pp. 108-109 Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Lipski, John. 1993. "Y'all in American English," ''English World-Wide'' 14:23-56.</ref> An alternative theory is that ''y'all'' is a [[calque]] of [[Gullah language|Gullah]] and Caribbean creole via earlier dialects of [[African-American English]].<ref name = "Schneider">Schneider, Edgar W. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&pg=PA284&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CEgQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false "The English dialect heritage of the southern United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908021356/https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&pg=PA284&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CEgQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 8, 2020 }}, from ''Legacies of Colonial English'', Raymond Hickey, ed. 2005. p.284.</ref> However, most linguists agree that ''y'all'' is likely an original form, deriving from original processes of grammar and morphological change, rather than being directly transferred from any other English dialects.<ref name = "Schneider" />
+It is not certain whether its use began specifically with black or white residents of the South, both of whom use the term today;<ref name = "Crystal">Crystal, David. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4djICT7zgGoC&q=%22local+usage%22 ''The Story of English in 100 Words''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928222752/https://books.google.com/books?id=4djICT7zgGoC&q=%22local+usage%22 |date=September 28, 2020 }}. 2011. p. 190.</ref> one possibility is that the term was brought by [[Scots-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] immigrants to the South, evolving from the earlier [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]] term ''ye aw''.<ref name = "Montgomery">Montgomery, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ia5tHVtQPn8C&dq=%22y%27all%22+etymology&pg=PA149 "British and Irish antecedents"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928020801/https://books.google.com/books?id=ia5tHVtQPn8C&pg=PA149&dq=%22y%27all%22+etymology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tYgLVM6_JITjsASK54HYBQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20etymology&f=false |date=September 28, 2020 }}, from ''The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6'', John Algeo, ed. 1992. p.149.</ref><ref>Bernstein, Cynthia: "Grammatical Features of Southern Speech: Yall, Might could, and fixin to". ''English in the Southern United States'', 2003, pp. 108-109 Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Lipski, John. 1993. "Y'all in American English," ''English World-Wide'' 14:23-56.</ref> An alternative theory is that ''y'all'' is a [[calque]] of [[Gullah language|Gullah]] and Caribbean creole via earlier dialects of [[African-American English]].<ref name = "Schneider">Schneider, Edgar W. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&pg=PA284 "The English dialect heritage of the southern United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908021356/https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&pg=PA284&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CEgQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 8, 2020 }}, from ''Legacies of Colonial English'', Raymond Hickey, ed. 2005. p.284.</ref> However, most linguists agree that ''y'all'' is likely an original form, deriving from original processes of grammar and morphological change, rather than being directly transferred from any other English dialects.<ref name = "Schneider" />
-''Y'all'' appeared at different times in different dialects of English, including [[Southern American English]] and [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]], indicating it is likely a parallel but independent (unrelated) development in those two dialects.<ref name = "Hickey">Hickey, Raymond. [https://books.google.com/books?id=23cqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA253&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0pELVIPZGszjsAToh4LwCw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false ''A Dictionary of Varieties of English''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013133427/https://books.google.com/books?id=23cqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA253&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0pELVIPZGszjsAToh4LwCw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false |date=October 13, 2020 }}. 2013. p.231.</ref> However, its emergence in both Southern and [[African-American Vernacular English]] indeed correlates in terms of the same basic time and place.
+''Y'all'' appeared at different times in various dialects of English, including [[Southern American English]] and [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]], suggesting parallel, independent development,<ref name = "Hickey">Hickey, Raymond. [https://books.google.com/books?id=23cqAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&pg=PA253 ''A Dictionary of Varieties of English''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013133427/https://books.google.com/books?id=23cqAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA253&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0pELVIPZGszjsAToh4LwCw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false |date=October 13, 2020 }}. 2013. p.231.</ref> while emergence in Southern and [[African-American Vernacular English]] closely correlates in time and place.
-The spelling ''y'all'' is the most prevalent in print, being ten times as common as ''ya'll'';<ref name = "Garner">Garner, Bryan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FwmQpyibKkAC&pg=PA873&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false ''Garner's Modern American Usage''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224924/https://books.google.com/books?id=FwmQpyibKkAC&pg=PA873&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 3, 2020 }}. 2009. p.873.</ref> much less common spelling variants also exist, like ''yall'', ''yawl'', and ''yo-all''.<ref name = "Crystal" />
+The spelling ''y'all'' is the most prevalent in print, ten times that of ''ya'll'';<ref name = "Garner">Garner, Bryan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FwmQpyibKkAC&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&pg=PA873 ''Garner's Modern American Usage''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224924/https://books.google.com/books?id=FwmQpyibKkAC&pg=PA873&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 3, 2020 }}. 2009. p.873.</ref> much less common spelling variants include ''yall'', ''yawl'', and ''yo-all''.<ref name = "Crystal" />
 ==Linguistic characteristics==
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 The usage of ''y'all'' can satisfy several grammatical functions, including an associative plural, a [[collective noun|collective pronoun]], an institutional pronoun, and an indefinite pronoun.<ref name = "Montgomery" /><ref name = "Bernstein" />
-''Y'all'' can in some instances serve as a "tone-setting device to express familiarity and solidarity."<ref name = "Hickey2">Hickey, Raymond. [https://books.google.com/books?id=92SqCciTOIQC&pg=PT361&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false "Rectifying a standard deficiency"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916201748/https://books.google.com/books?id=92SqCciTOIQC&pg=PT361&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 16, 2020 }}, from ''Diachronic Perspectives on Address Term Systems''. Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas Juncker, eds. 2003. p.352.</ref> When used in the singular, ''y'all'' can be used to convey a feeling of warmth towards the addressee.<ref name = "Lerner">Lerner, Laurence. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cXmXLi5O2hUC&pg=PA218&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false ''You Can't Say That! English Usage Today''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919121719/https://books.google.com/books?id=cXmXLi5O2hUC&pg=PA218&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 19, 2020 }}. 2010. p. 218.</ref> In this way, singular usage of ''y'all'' differs from French, Russian or German, where plural forms can be used for formal singular instances.<ref name = "Lerner" />
+''Y'all'' can in some instances serve as a "tone-setting device to express familiarity and solidarity."<ref name = "Hickey2">Hickey, Raymond. [https://books.google.com/books?id=92SqCciTOIQC&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&pg=PT361 "Rectifying a standard deficiency"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916201748/https://books.google.com/books?id=92SqCciTOIQC&pg=PT361&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oPmcU9qtMNOWyATy24L4Dg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 16, 2020 }}, from ''Diachronic Perspectives on Address Term Systems''. Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas Juncker, eds. 2003. p.352.</ref> When used in the singular, ''y'all'' can be used to convey a feeling of warmth towards the addressee.<ref name = "Lerner">Lerner, Laurence. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cXmXLi5O2hUC&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&pg=PA218 ''You Can't Say That! English Usage Today''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919121719/https://books.google.com/books?id=cXmXLi5O2hUC&pg=PA218&dq=%22y%27all%22+%22usage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=53-cU6f2CsKSyATXuoLYBg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20%22usage%22&f=false |date=September 19, 2020 }}. 2010. p. 218.</ref> In this way, singular usage of ''y'all'' differs from French, Russian or German, where plural forms can be used for formal singular instances.<ref name = "Lerner" />
 ===Singular usage===
-There is long-standing disagreement among both laymen and grammarians about whether ''y'all'' has primarily or exclusively plural reference.<ref name = "Schneider" /> The debate itself extends to the late nineteenth century, and has often been repeated since.<ref name = "Bernstein" /> While many Southerners hold that ''y'all'' is only properly used as a plural pronoun, strong counter evidence suggests that the word is also used with a singular reference,<ref name = "Crystal" /><ref name = "Garner" /><ref name = "Lerner" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hyman |first1=Eric |title=The ''All'' of ''You-All'' |journal=American Speech |date=2006 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=325–331 |doi=10.1215/00031283-2006-022}}</ref> particularly amongst non-Southerners.<ref name="singular">{{cite web| last =Okrent| first =Anrika| date =2014-09-14| url =http://theweek.com/article/index/267886/can-yall-be-used-to-refer-to-a-single-person| title =Can Y'all Be Used to Refer to a Single Person?| work =[[The Week]]| publisher =The Week Publications| access-date =2014-09-15| archive-date =September 15, 2014| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140915100256/https://theweek.com/article/index/267886/can-yall-be-used-to-refer-to-a-single-person| url-status =live}}</ref>
+There is historic disagreement whether ''y'all'' is primarily or exclusively plural,<ref name = "Schneider" /> with debate steming from the late nineteenth century to the present.<ref name = "Bernstein" /> While some Southerners hold ''y'all'' is only properly used as a plural pronoun, counter evidence suggests usage include singular references,<ref name = "Crystal" /><ref name = "Garner" /><ref name = "Lerner" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hyman |first1=Eric |title=The ''All'' of ''You-All'' |journal=American Speech |date=2006 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=325–331 |doi=10.1215/00031283-2006-022}}</ref> particularly amongst non-Southerners.<ref name="singular">{{cite web| last =Okrent| first =Anrika| date =2014-09-14| url =http://theweek.com/article/index/267886/can-yall-be-used-to-refer-to-a-single-person| title =Can Y'all Be Used to Refer to a Single Person?| work =[[The Week]]| publisher =The Week Publications| access-date =2014-09-15| archive-date =September 15, 2014| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140915100256/https://theweek.com/article/index/267886/can-yall-be-used-to-refer-to-a-single-person| url-status =live}}</ref>
-[[H. L. Mencken]] recognized that ''y'all'' or ''you-all'' will usually have a plural reference, but acknowledged singular reference use has been observed. He stated that plural use
+[[H. L. Mencken]], in recognizing the typical plural reference of ''y'all'' or ''you-all'', acknowledged occasional observation of the singular reference, writing that the exclusive plural usage of ''y'all''
 {{quote|is a cardinal article of faith in the South. ... Nevertheless, it has been questioned very often, and with a considerable showing of evidence. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, to be sure, ''you-all'' indicates a plural, implicit if not explicit, and thus means, when addressed to a single person, 'you and your folks' or the like, but the hundredth time it is impossible to discover any such extension of meaning.|H. L. Mencken, ''The American Language Supplement 2: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States''|1948, p.337<ref>{{cite book
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 ==Regional usage==
-[[File:Y'allMap.jpg|thumb|300px|Frequency of "y'all" to address multiple people, according to a survey of American dialect variation<ref name="www4.uwm.edu">{{Cite web |url=http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/states.html |title=Dialect Survey Results |access-date=February 29, 2012 |archive-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222022459/http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/states.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
+[[File:Y'allMap.jpg|thumb|300px|Frequency of "y'all" to address multiple people, according to a 2011 survey of American dialect variation<ref name="www4.uwm.edu">{{Cite web |url=http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/states.html |title=Dialect Survey Results |access-date=February 29, 2012 |archive-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222022459/http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/states.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
 ===United States===
-''Y'all'' has been called "perhaps the most distinctive of all grammatical characteristics" of [[Southern American English]], as well as its most prominent characteristic.<ref name = "Schneider" /> Linguist [[Walt Wolfram]] and English professor Jeffrey Reaser wrote, "No word in the American English vocabulary probably carries as much regional capital."<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Wolfram| first1 = Walt| last2 = Reaser| first2 = Jeffrey| title = Talkin' Tar Heel : How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina | publisher = The University of North Carolina Press| date = 2014| location = Chapel Hill| page = 82 | isbn = 978-1-4696-1437-3 }}</ref> People who move to the South from other regions often adopt the usage, even when other regional usages are not adopted.<ref name = "Montgomery2">Montgomery, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wCeaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT197&dq=%22y%27all%22+southern&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LJIMVNfjEuzjsAS04IJA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20southern&f=false "Y'all"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926231315/https://books.google.com/books?id=wCeaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT197&dq=%22y%27all%22+southern&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LJIMVNfjEuzjsAS04IJA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20southern&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 5: Language''. Michael Montgomery et al. eds. 2007.</ref> Outside the southern United States, ''y'all'' is most closely associated with [[African-American Vernacular English]].<ref>Baugh, John. [https://archive.org/details/beyondebonicslin00baug/page/106 <!-- quote="y'all" "usage". --> ''Beyond Ebonics'']. 2000. p.106</ref> African Americans took Southern usages with them during the twentieth-century exodus from the South to cities in the northeastern United States and other places within the nation. In urban African-American communities outside of the South, the usage of ''y'all'' is prominent.<ref>Wright, Susan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1VOgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&dq=y%27all+%22african+american+vernacular%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMI6-6w05WWyAIVRm4-Ch07tQbu#v=onepage&q=y'all%20%22african%20american%20vernacular%22&f=false "'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second person plural pronouns in Englishes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429081413/https://books.google.com/books?id=1VOgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&dq=y%27all+%22african+american+vernacular%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMI6-6w05WWyAIVRm4-Ch07tQbu#v=onepage&q=y'all%20%22african%20american%20vernacular%22&f=false |date=April 29, 2016 }}, from Taming the Vernacular, Jenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein, Eds. Routledge, 2014. p.177.</ref>
+''Y'all'' has been called "perhaps the most distinctive of all grammatical characteristics" of [[Southern American English]].<ref name = "Schneider" /> Linguist [[Walt Wolfram]] and English professor Jeffrey Reaser wrote, "No word in the American English vocabulary probably carries as much regional capital."<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Wolfram| first1 = Walt| last2 = Reaser| first2 = Jeffrey| title = Talkin' Tar Heel : How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina | publisher = The University of North Carolina Press| date = 2014| location = Chapel Hill| page = 82 | isbn = 978-1-4696-1437-3 }}</ref> People who move to the South from other regions often adopt the usage, even when other regional usages are not adopted.<ref name = "Montgomery2">Montgomery, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wCeaAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22y%27all%22+southern&pg=PT197 "Y'all"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926231315/https://books.google.com/books?id=wCeaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT197&dq=%22y%27all%22+southern&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LJIMVNfjEuzjsAS04IJA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20southern&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 5: Language''. Michael Montgomery et al. eds. 2007.</ref> Outside the southern United States, ''y'all'' is most closely associated with [[African-American Vernacular English]].<ref>Baugh, John. [https://archive.org/details/beyondebonicslin00baug/page/106 <!-- quote="y'all" "usage". --> ''Beyond Ebonics'']. 2000. p.106</ref> African Americans took Southern usages with them during the twentieth-century exodus from the South to cities in the northeastern United States and other places within the nation. In urban African-American communities outside of the South, the usage of ''y'all'' is prominent.<ref>Wright, Susan. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1VOgBAAAQBAJ&dq=y%27all+%22african+american+vernacular%22&pg=PA177 "'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second person plural pronouns in Englishes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429081413/https://books.google.com/books?id=1VOgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&dq=y%27all+%22african+american+vernacular%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMI6-6w05WWyAIVRm4-Ch07tQbu#v=onepage&q=y'all%20%22african%20american%20vernacular%22&f=false |date=April 29, 2016 }}, from Taming the Vernacular, Jenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein, Eds. Routledge, 2014. p.177.</ref>
-The use of ''y'all'' as the dominant second person-plural pronoun is not necessarily universal in the Southern United States. In some dialects of the [[Ozarks]] and [[Great Smoky Mountains]], for example, it is common to hear ''[[you'uns]]'' (a contraction of ''"you ones"'') used instead.<ref name = "Bernstein">Bernstein, Cynthia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4hSipu5yeqMC&pg=PA3&dq=Bernstein,+Cynthia.+%22Grammatical+features+of+southern+speech%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b9yiVNfICYWgNvqygogB&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=y'all&f=false "Grammatical features of southern speech"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408052822/https://books.google.com/books?id=4hSipu5yeqMC&pg=PA3&dq=Bernstein,+Cynthia.+%22Grammatical+features+of+southern+speech%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b9yiVNfICYWgNvqygogB&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=y'all&f=false |date=April 8, 2016 }}, from ''English in the Southern United States'', Stephen J. Nagle, et al. eds. 2003. pp.107-109.</ref> Other forms have also been used increasingly in the South, including the use of ''[[you guys]]''.<ref name = "Bernstein" />
+The use of ''y'all'' as the dominant second person-plural pronoun is not necessarily universal in the Southern United States. In some dialects of the [[Ozarks]] and [[Great Smoky Mountains]], for example, it is common to hear ''[[you'uns]]'' (a contraction of ''"you ones"'') used instead.<ref name = "Bernstein">Bernstein, Cynthia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4hSipu5yeqMC&q=y%27all&pg=PA3 "Grammatical features of southern speech"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408052822/https://books.google.com/books?id=4hSipu5yeqMC&pg=PA3&dq=Bernstein,+Cynthia.+%22Grammatical+features+of+southern+speech%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b9yiVNfICYWgNvqygogB&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=y'all&f=false |date=April 8, 2016 }}, from ''English in the Southern United States'', Stephen J. Nagle, et al. eds. 2003. pp.107-109.</ref> In the Missouri Ozarks (and adjoining regions of the state), "you-all" is the preferred form, though “all y’all” may be indicated, depending upon context. Other forms have also been used increasingly in the South, including ''[[you guys]]''.<ref name = "Bernstein" />
-Overall, the use of ''y'all'' has been increasing in the United States, both within and outside the southern United States. In 1996, 49% of non-Southerners reported using ''y'all'' or ''you-all'' in conversation, while 84% of Southerners reported usage, both percentages showing a 5% increase over the previous study, conducted in 1994.<ref name = "Bernstein" />
+A survey conducted in 1996 reported 49% of non-Southerners and 84% of Southerners used ''y'all'' or ''you-all'' in conversation, with a 1994 survey returning a 5% increase by both groups.<ref name = "Bernstein" />
 ===South Africa===
-In South Africa, ''y'all'' appears across all [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]].<ref name = "Mesthrie">Mesthrie, Rajend. "South African Indian English", from ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=IZVqidxVsLwC Focus on South Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804024658/https://books.google.com/books?id=IZVqidxVsLwC |date=August 4, 2020 }}''. Vivian de Klerk, ed. 1996. pp.88-89.</ref> Its lexical similarity to the ''y'all'' of the United States is attributed to coincidence.<ref name = "Mesthrie" />
+In South Africa, ''y'all'' appears across all [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[South African Indian|South African Indian English]].<ref name = "Mesthrie">Mesthrie, Rajend. "South African Indian English", from ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=IZVqidxVsLwC Focus on South Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804024658/https://books.google.com/books?id=IZVqidxVsLwC |date=August 4, 2020 }}''. Vivian de Klerk, ed. 1996. pp.88-89.</ref> Its lexical similarity to the ''y'all'' of the United States may be coincidental.<ref name = "Mesthrie" />
-===Rest of world===
+===Rest of the world===
-''Y'all'' is found, in much lesser degrees, in other dialects of English, including the dialects of [[Māori language|Maori]] English in [[New Zealand]], [[St. Helena]] and [[Tristan da Cunha]],<ref>Schreier, Daniel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false "St Helenian English"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926070922/https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction''. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. pp.235-237, 254.</ref> and [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].<ref>Clarke, Sandra. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=snippet&q=%22y'all%22&f=false "Newfoundland and Labrador English"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926070922/https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=snippet&q=%22y'all%22&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction''. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. p.85.</ref>
+''Y'all'' appears in other dialects of English, including [[Māori language|Maori]] English in [[New Zealand]], [[Sri Lankan English]]<ref>[https://groundviews.org/2013/01/28/a-z-of-sri-lankan-english-y-is-for-yall/ Groundviews]</ref> and dialects of [[St. Helena]], [[Tristan da Cunha]],<ref>Schreier, Daniel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&pg=PA236 "St Helenian English"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926070922/https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22y'all%22%20genitive&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction''. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. pp.235-237, 254.</ref> and [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].<ref>Clarke, Sandra. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&q=%22y%27all%22&pg=PA236 "Newfoundland and Labrador English"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926070922/https://books.google.com/books?id=-TGSgT2SyH0C&pg=PA236&dq=%22y%27all%22+genitive&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vIwLVPPiFPC1sQT71ILgDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=snippet&q=%22y'all%22&f=false |date=September 26, 2020 }}, from ''The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction''. Daniel Schreier, et al. eds. 2010. p.85.</ref>
 ==See also==
-{{Wiktionary}}
+{{Wiktionary|y'all|all y'all}}
+* [[English personal pronouns]]
-{{Wiktionary|all y'all}}
+* {{section link|You#Plural_forms}}
-*[[English personal pronouns]]
-*[[Ye (pronoun)]]
+** [[Ye (pronoun)]]
-*[[Yinz]]
+** [[Yinz]]
 ==References==

v t e Modern English personal pronouns
standard	I he she it who one we you they me
non-standard	y'all ye yinz
See also Modern English, English personal pronouns, and third-person pronouns