The reason I omit the apostrophe is because evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these original phrases have been reduced to single words which behave like pronouns (I, we, you, he, they) more than nouns or other parts of speech. If I am right, this means that the dialects that use them have repaired the confusion in the pronoun schema:
I . . . . . . . . we
you . . . . . you > yall, yuns, youse
s/he, it . . they
Language is always changing. It lives and breathes just like the people using it.
Yall and yuns
- Dr. Goodword
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Yall and yuns
• The Good Dr. Goodword
Re: Yall and yuns
Based on contemporary culture as reflected in movies or television, "youse" is a form of address for those who are soon to be no longer breathing...you . . . . . you > yall, yuns, youse
Language is always changing. It lives and breathes just like the people using it.
-gailr
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Re: Yall and yuns
Doc, I don't follow- how does common use eliminate an apostrophe? Does not y'all still stand for you all? That could present some dilemmas in words such as we'll, he'll she'll...The reason I omit the apostrophe is because evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these original phrases have been reduced to single words which behave like pronouns (I, we, you, he, they) more than nouns or other parts of speech. If I am right, this means that the dialects that use them have repaired the confusion in the pronoun schema:
I . . . . . . . . we
you . . . . . you > yall, yuns, youse
s/he, it . . they
Language is always changing. It lives and breathes just like the people using it.
Or is your point that the term would only be used in contracted form?
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!
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- Grand Panjandrum
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We'll sti'll, tha't doesnt seem like a basis for eliminating an apostrophe. This hain't been the evolution in the examples I/we/you/he or they- while ain't still sports it.Ahm guessing that this is precisely his point.Or is your point that the term would only be used in contracted form?
- = - = - =
Interesting pearl Ferrus- is there a dedicated colloquial you-plural in that area?
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!
Re: Yall and yuns
The apostrophe becomes a problem when the next, logical steps are taken with the new construction. If seen as a contraction, then a phrase like "Here are y'all's tickets" begins to accumulate too many apostrophes for our simple language. Using the phrase as a free-standing possessive pronoun, it reads "Here are yalls tickets," where "yall" is the root pronoun and "yalls" the possessive form in parallel with "her" and "hers," "their" and "theirs." And yet in this form, it seems to lack a needed apostrophe.Doc, I don't follow- how does common use eliminate an apostrophe? Does not y'all still stand for you all? That could present some dilemmas in words such as we'll, he'll she'll...The reason I omit the apostrophe is because evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these original phrases have been reduced to single words which behave like pronouns (I, we, you, he, they) more than nouns or other parts of speech. If I am right, this means that the dialects that use them have repaired the confusion in the pronoun schema:
I . . . . . . . . we
you . . . . . you > yall, yuns, youse
s/he, it . . they
Language is always changing. It lives and breathes just like the people using it.
Or is your point that the term would only be used in contracted form?
As I wrote elsewhere in the forum, my opinion is that we shouldn't be writing in this (or any) dialect, anyway; but people do, so I suppose it needs to be addressed.
Beck
"I don't know whether ignorance or apathy is worse, and, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
"I don't know whether ignorance or apathy is worse, and, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I am not much for writing in dialects either.
With all the technology available, dialects should be
disappearing - TV, radio, etc. : we can hear each other
and speak to each other. This should ultimately
eliminate the Boston "drawl", southern stuff, midwestern
whatever. I will continue to use the apostrophe if ever
writing y'all, just as I will use it in "I'll".
With all the technology available, dialects should be
disappearing - TV, radio, etc. : we can hear each other
and speak to each other. This should ultimately
eliminate the Boston "drawl", southern stuff, midwestern
whatever. I will continue to use the apostrophe if ever
writing y'all, just as I will use it in "I'll".
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
- Location: Land of the Flat Water
Y'all
And to that I will add "it's" when it is a verb.
As a teacher I subtracted points when a student used
"its" as a verb without the apostrophe. I don't believe
we should be
'REDUCING EVERYTHING TO THE LEAST
COMMON DENOMINATOR"
and if I am guilty of that by desiring loss of dialects, then
ok; but watering down the grammar is not the same
as learning to speak and write correctly.
(I am a "24" fan too, Beck)Great: I sure notice the
difference in Renee from her former self: of course 6
years in the Russian mob may have done some of that).
As a teacher I subtracted points when a student used
"its" as a verb without the apostrophe. I don't believe
we should be
'REDUCING EVERYTHING TO THE LEAST
COMMON DENOMINATOR"
and if I am guilty of that by desiring loss of dialects, then
ok; but watering down the grammar is not the same
as learning to speak and write correctly.
(I am a "24" fan too, Beck)Great: I sure notice the
difference in Renee from her former self: of course 6
years in the Russian mob may have done some of that).
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
Could you link us all to that book on punctuation, please?
As for 24, I missed the second two-hour show, and I missed it this Monday, too. I am NOT a tv watcher, so I'm unaccustomed to timing my week or day or whatever around the tv schedule. I received seasons five and six on DVD for my birthday, and that's what I'm watching.
Since this is a language forum, What about the title, "24?"
I was taught not to use numerals at the beginning of a sentence, and it grates a little, even in a title. (Of course, I paid good money on numerous occasions to see "10" in the movies when I was a younger man without any syntactic or grammatical hesitation.) The rules I use now for numbers in a (non-technical) sentence are 1) Don't start a sentence with a numeral - spell it out, and 2) spell out the numbers "one" through "nine" and use numerals for 10 and above in the body of a sentence.
Is that about right?
As for 24, I missed the second two-hour show, and I missed it this Monday, too. I am NOT a tv watcher, so I'm unaccustomed to timing my week or day or whatever around the tv schedule. I received seasons five and six on DVD for my birthday, and that's what I'm watching.
Since this is a language forum, What about the title, "24?"
I was taught not to use numerals at the beginning of a sentence, and it grates a little, even in a title. (Of course, I paid good money on numerous occasions to see "10" in the movies when I was a younger man without any syntactic or grammatical hesitation.) The rules I use now for numbers in a (non-technical) sentence are 1) Don't start a sentence with a numeral - spell it out, and 2) spell out the numbers "one" through "nine" and use numerals for 10 and above in the body of a sentence.
Is that about right?
Beck
"I don't know whether ignorance or apathy is worse, and, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
"I don't know whether ignorance or apathy is worse, and, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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