YOH

[Benjamin Barrett]

I've heard "yo" when it seems to be a reduction of "you all." It's
used by an Asian-American friend when he's using AAVE.

Benjamin Barrett
Tukwila, WA

> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Douglas G. Wilson
>
> I presented my perhaps sophomoric thoughts on "yo" on 4
> May 2001 on this
> list. Nobody else seemed interested at that time. I
> reproduce an excerpt:
>
> ----------
>
> (1) "Yo" [multipurpose interjection] = "hey": given by
> OED from as early as
> 1420 (as "3aw" ["3" = yogh])
>
> (2) "Walyo" [term of address] = "young man", prob. <
> Italian (dialect
> [e.g., maybe Lucano?]) "uaglio" = "boy"
>
> (3) "Yo" [response] = "yes"/"present" [military etc. from
> WW II or earlier]
> [I speculate < "yeah"/"yes" altered for loud utterance]
>
> (4) "Yo" = dialect version of "you", "your", and probably "y'all"
>
> (5) "Yo" < Spanish term of address "yo": asserted in the
> Cassell dictionary
> [I'm not familiar with this, but I am familiar with a multipurpose
> interjection "Coño!" with last-syllable stress ...]