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Y'all oughtta distinguish "y'all" from "all y'all".
I thought the distinction was clear:
- y'all - singular
- all y'all - plural
That's not right:
- you - singular
- y'all - plural
- all y'all - superplural
Y'all refers to multiple people, all y'all refers to multiple groups of people
My understanding:
- you: the person I'm talking to
- y'all: the group of folks I'm talking to
- all y'all: y'all, plus anyone else that could possibly be addressed by me (everyone in voice range)
(Agreeing and using different words to say the what I think is the same thing)
I feel like y’all covers up to ~3 and “all y’all” (my favourite Americanism) is reserved for more than that?
As a born and raised southerner, y'all can be used for one person or many, with no clear limit on the number. All y'all is used to stress a point or to make it clear that it references everyone capable of hearing the message or just anyone who could be intended. All y'all is mainly used, in real world applications, in the sentence "all y'all can go fuck y'allself" or similar.
Uh, it's "all y'alls".
I thought that's the plural genitive.
While I won't disagree, is a discussion about "y'all" really the place for a phrase like "plural genitive"? ;)
Southern US English is a language, and is therefore a proper subject for linguistics, so ... yes?