Posted on 02/20/2005 7:45:38 PM PST by bayourod
In a June appearance on NBC's Today Show, singer Marc Anthony made an unusual but, according to some linguists, not-so-surprising word choice.
When co-host Matt Lauer asked Anthony how he'd spend the upcoming weekend, Anthony said, "Y'all know I don't talk about my personal life."
A New York native of Puerto Rican descent using "y'all," a distinctly Southern term?
Linguists Guy Bailey and Jan Tillery would say Anthony is exhibit A in a national trend that is spreading the uses of "y'all" beyond the South. The two, who teach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, wrote an article in 2000 called The Nationalization of a Southernism, in the Journal of English Linguistics.
After conducting a national poll by telephone, the team concluded that the spread was dramatic and recent, most likely in the past 50 years as younger non-Southerners were significantly more likely to use "y'all" than older non-Southerners. Those regions bordering the South and Texas, like Kansas and New Mexico, were most likely to adopt it, as well as the Rocky Mountain region, which, they argued, had cultural similarities with the South.
As for why non-Southerners might use a markedly Southern term, the authors cite geographic mobility — Northerners moving to the South adopting it and Southerners moving to the North retaining it. But ultimately, the authors argue, it's a matter of addressing a "hole" in the English language.
Ever since English lost the second person singular "thou," it has relied on the pronoun "you" to act as both singular and plural. English speakers have improvised ways to avoid ambiguity in the plural: in the Northeast, "youse" or "youse guys"; around Pittsburgh "yunz" or "yinz," a contraction of "you-ones"; in the South, "y'all," a contraction — or "fusion" as Bailey and Tillery say — of "you-all"; and finally "you guys."
But "you guys" feels awkward to certain segments of the population, says Joan Houston Hall, chief editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English. A term that gained popularity in the 1960s, it still sounds inappropriately familiar to some elderly ears, she says, and some women are uncomfortable with the masculine gender implied by "guys." "Y'all" elegantly resolves all these concerns.
Others argue that "y'all" is spreading for a much simpler reason: Both culturally and numerically, the South is on the rise. But more important, "y'all" is standard in what linguists call African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), the lingua franca of rap and hip-hop.
The President of the USA is going to Bratislava, Slovakia.
"Dude, you made out with your sister. What were you thinking???" /Eurotrip reference.
Y'all come back now, heah?!
Shore.
No comment.
"English handles 3rd person plural poorly."
I believe you meant 2nd person plural.
No,no,no...Y'all are goin' ta be similated.
Took me a minute there, long day. :)
Just an offhand, y'know how it goes (I **sincerely** hope!).
Best to you, and FReegards, and don' forgot some Gumbo File in de pot, rat? (g!)
Also tried for gumbo the other night and wife wouldn't make any. :(
Coonass?? Coonass?? Now I know they don't say that in NYC!
At the risk of being flamed by my Southern FRiends, I say you-all. Y'all sounds too Southern and uneducated to me. I would never use it in front of co-workers (academics who would likely call me on my language).
I'm surprised the study found that 'y'all' was spreading and not 'you-all.'
I picked up a lot of words from different people I meet. It's weird. The one that has stuck the most, well it's a few words 'bless your heart' *LOL* Ya'll works for me because I'm getting mentally lazy in my old age! hehehehe.
BTW, yo wanna see good gumbo cookin', yo wanna watch ol' rerun o' Justin Wilson, or, mebbe mo bettah, sometime yo watch Emeril (g!). Dese boys dey COOK some gumbo, yo betcha.
(duckin') Couldn't resist, mate -- sorry for the teasing. Really, though, gumbo file is a spice mixture, but gumbo -- well, that's a whole 'nother subject.
FReegards!
I guess the person taking your call wasn't a Submariner because if he'd been, he'd have had NO trouble understanding your request. HAR!
Sorry - I love Southernisms and I love Navy lingo and sometimes they intersect.
"Youse guys" said without the correct accent just sounds dumb. Born in NY, I use "you guys" but none of my friends do. And I've noticed that my "born in DC" friends do not use "Y'all" at all. Very strange.
Your comment just me think about gumbo. Sure was in the mood too. Already had the shrimp and fish, but had to settle for fried-in cornmeal of course! :)
Justin Wilson I'd go for, Emril gets a little wild at times, but I guess Yankees got to eat too.
No insult ever to your lovely wife, but you know what they ask, rat?
Is she pretty, or does she know how ta make a roux? (w!)
Ideally both, of course, and I'd wager she is an' can.
Best wishes to yo' house, and FReegards! (an' be sho' an' save dat fresh clam juice for de hoboy killer Bloody Mary, or Bloody Virgin, either way yo wan', fo' to go along wit dat gumbo!)
;^)
LOL
Now that's debatable, but she been aroun' so long, I guess I keep her.LOL
You have a good evenin' now and stay warm cause the cold done got down hea
As my old (and thoroughly Cajun) tutor would say -- and did: ''If de snow evah jam up de bayou, an' we got lot o' dat dam* ''Yankee watah'' (one of a number of terms of art around Thibodeaux) hyah, you don' wanna stick aroun' for what gonna happen nextime. Son, snow is jus' G-d warnin' ya. You see snow lak a Yankee see snow, no Cajun gonna be hyah 30 minute, jes' one time. '' (Attended college in Conn., another world, and Mr. M. could and did tease along with the best. Good-hearted all the time, even when ''raggin' mah sorry Yankee butt''. I was of course a ''Yankee''...sigh).
I suppose that he's just smiling at the ''global warming'' types these days.
Wonderful folks, independent, responsible for their own actions, and their own lives, virtually no use for gov't. And, btw, BOY do they create great food!
FReegards! :^)
Yes. Inadequate sleep makes for inaccurate commentary.
I can imagine so! We had some of that yankee watah this Christmas, dog didn't even know what it was. she kept looking at me like "what did you do to the yard"?
Seems most across the south are the independent type and all do very well with their cookin'.
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