Singular "yez"?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Conversation between two college wymyn, newly arrived at a dorm, 1976:

"Where are you from?"

"Baton Rouge."

"Y'all from Louisiana???  Well, so am I ! !"

JL

"Bethany K. Dumas" <dumasb at UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Bethany K. Dumas"
Subject: Re: Singular "yez"?
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On Fri, 10 Dec 2004, Wilson Gray wrote:

>Can someone supply some examples in which a genuine Southern-speaker or
>a BE speaker uses "y'all"/"you-all" as a singular? I've heard and read
>since the '40's, at least that, y'all/you-all can be used as a
>second-person singular. I have never heard such a use from any white
>Southerners or from any black person. But I'm willing to grant that
>that could be mere happenstance.

I have heard it and know others who have heard it in the Knoxville, TN
area. One example is from a medical office - receptionist says to
patient, "y'all come back."

Bethany


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