Singular Y'ALL

[Douglas Bigham]

I have either/both "your all's" and "ya'll's" (spelling a deep rooted personal preference over "y'all").  If I had to guess, I would say they vary due to emphasis (obvious, I know) or maybe social distance from me to them (hearers).
Born and raised in Southern Illinois, 4th generation Irish-Scot, if that matters.

-dsb

Douglas S. Bigham
Southern Illinois University - Carbondale


>>Very nice example, and confirmed by my Southern >>student (Alabama and
>>Tennessee).  But I have an extension kind of >>question:  For plural
>>possessive, would you/you all say "your all's" >>or "you all's"?  Granted, if
>>one is r-less, the production would sound >>like "y'all's" (as below).  But
>>if you're r-ful (as many Southerners and most South >>Midlanders are), would
>>you say "your all's," i.e., is there an >>underlying /r/ which may or may not
>>be pronounced?  An Athens County student of mine >>insists that she said
>>"your all's" both as a child in Mississippi and as an
>>adolescent and adult
>>in southern Ohio.