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(First Things) - A new app called “Texas Bible” replaces “you” with “y’all” in English bible translations wherever the original language used a second-person plural. John Dyer, its creator, explains...
Complete article here.
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(First Things) - A new app called “Texas Bible” replaces “you” with “y’all” in English bible translations wherever the original language used a second-person plural. John Dyer, its creator, explains...
According to my sister who lived in Houston and Austin for several years, "y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural. But I've never been outside and airport in Texas, so I don't know anything myself.
ReplyDeleteY'all is more particular. All y'all is for large, impersonal groups. There is some mutability here.
DeleteI beg to differ with Elisha's sister. Any native speaker of English in the southeastern U.S. (and/or Texas) knows that "y'all" is never EVER singular. Transplants and visitors sometimes misunderstand because it may be used by one individual talking to another individual, but that does not mean it's singular. The speaker may be addressing you as a individual but does so while thinking of you as part of a larger group. For example, if I am speaking to Jane Doe, and refer to her by using "y'all," this indicates I am talking to her as if others were also present (such as her spouse, boyfriend, family, or some other group she is part of) even though the other persons in that group are not there. Which group I'm refering to would depend on the context of the conversation.
ReplyDelete"All y'all" can indeed refer to large, impersonal groups, but not always. It is mostly a way of emphasizing that what is said is intended to be thoroughly applied to the entire group. An invitation, for example, (or an insult in some cases!) is meant for each and every one within the group. It's a way of being thorough, emphatic, or both.
Exactly. Thanks for saying this! I am also tired of being told that "y'all" is singular.
DeleteSorry for the typo. I do know that I should have said, "as AN individual."
ReplyDeleteI never have used the contraction, y'all. Always have said "you all" to express the second person plural. I have lived in Texas for forty-eight of my fifty-eight years. I also say "you guys". No pattern for when I say which variant.
ReplyDeleteIf someone used "y'all" in correspondence to express the singular, my teacher's red pen would circle it for incorrect grammar! (This was the first that I ever have heard someone allege that the usage is for the singular.)
I added the Google Chrome extension so I can now read the Bible in my native language.
ReplyDelete