"Y'all" redux

[Beverly Flanigan]

Hey, no apology needed!  I was actually criticizing myself for not probing
the earlier writer's example.

At 07:12 PM 2/22/2005, you wrote:
>Jeez, Bev, I'm sorry. I didn't mean my post as a criticism of your
>post. I was just adding some info. Since I'm retired, I use trash TV,
>especially Jerry, Maury, and the Club Comic View show on BET, as my
>informants. On those shows, you will almost never hear a possessive /s/
>used by a black guest and its use is getting to be relatively rare
>among Latins, especially in the phrase, "baby daddy," which BET even
>pluralizes in print as "baby daddies," though you would expect "babies'
>daddies."
>
>-Wilson
>
>On Feb 22, 2005, at 2:51 PM, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: "Y'all" redux
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>Yes, zero possessive marking would make sense in Black English.  The
>>earlier example may or may not have been BE (I should have asked the
>>writer).
>>
>>At 09:25 PM 2/21/2005, you wrote:
>>>"Y'all house," with "y'all" interpreted as possessive would be
>>>standard
>>>in Black English, if there was a standard version of that dialect.
>>>
>>>-Wilson
>>>
>>>On Feb 21, 2005, at 12:22 PM, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>>>
>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>-----------------------
>>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>
>>>>Subject:      Re: "Y'all" redux
>>>>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>--
>>>>--------
>>>>
>>>>"y'all house" as possessive?  I've heard both "y'all's" and
>>>>"y'allses"
>>>>as
>>>>possessive, but not "y'all."  Do you have "y'allses"?
>>>>
>>>>At 07:10 PM 2/19/2005, you wrote:
>>>>>As a white  South Louisianian, I have never heard "Y'all" as a
>>>>>singular
>>>>>pronoun, but the use of "y'all's" and "y'all" as a possessive
>>>>>pronoun
>>>>>is
>>>>>used.(I passed by y'all's/ y'all house yesterday, but y'all weren't
>>>>>home.)
>>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>>From: "Wilson Gray" <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>>>>>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>>Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 2:45 PM
>>>>>Subject: "Y'all" redux
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>>>>header -----------------------
>>>>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>>>Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>>>>>>Subject:      "Y'all" redux
>>>>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>--
>>>>>>-----
>>>>>-----
>>>>>>
>>>>>>In an earlier discussion as to whether Southern-English speakers
>>>>>>could,
>>>>>>would, or did use "y'all" as a singular, a white Mississippian, who
>>>>>>posted directly to me instead of to the list, and I, a black East
>>>>>>Texan, maintained that "y'all" is always plural. Many others didn't
>>>>>>agree and suggested that I might want to read what David Crystal,
>>>>>>in
>>>>>>his "The Stories of English," has to say about his experience of
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>use of "y'all" in Fort Worth, Texas, that experience being that
>>>>>>"y'all"
>>>>>>*is* used as a singular.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>In Texas, we say that the West begins at Fort Worth. So, I
>>>>>>suggested
>>>>>>that perhaps there's or some kind of dialect split between East
>>>>>>Texas
>>>>>>and Fort Worth.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I have now read what Prof. Crystal has to say. Since I've never
>>>>>>been
>>>>>>farther west in Texas than Longview, I accept Prof. Crystal's
>>>>>>description of the use of "y'all" in a representative metropolitan
>>>>>>area
>>>>>>in West Texas.. However, He also provides a dialect map that shows
>>>>>>that
>>>>>>East Texas, like Mississippi, falls into the region of Southern
>>>>>>English, whereas Fort Worth is located in the region of Western
>>>>>>English.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>So, concerning the "y'all" question, the answer appears to be that
>>>>>>it
>>>>>>depends on where you are and/or whether your informant is back or
>>>>>>white.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>-Wilson Gray