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bolido_sentimental  1yr ago (text post)   3346 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 25, 2022

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Does the pronoun "you" in English playing quadruple role (2nd person singular subject, 2nd person singular object, 2nd person plural subject, 2nd person object) harm communication, or would it be better if in English the distinction between subject and object in pronouns wouldn't exist, given that in English nouns aren't declined according to subject/object but only by number (singular/plural) and possessive? But even then the question if creating a distinction between 2nd person singular and plural, as there is in 1st person (I/we) and in 3rd (he/they), is beneficial.

I've always thought that English could do with a second person plural, like 'vous' in French. Being able to distinguish between talking to a group and an individual in a group setting is very helpful.

Of course, language being what it is, English speakers have basically created alternatives out of necessity (y'all, youse, you guys etc). Give it a few hundred years and I'm sure we'll be using them as words in their own right.

Interestingly, one of the main distinctions between Ebonics and general southern English is that in Ebonics, y’all is the exact opposite of vous- it’s an informal or familiar pronoun not giving a specific statement on plurality. In general southern English it’s still generally plural, but can be much less familiar.

And of course in Louisiana French, the informal pronouns are ‘Tu’ and ‘vous-autre’, and ‘vous’ is reserved for figures that you can never, ever be on a first name basis with, but has no specific connotations of plurality.

Just thought all of that was interesting to note.

Are you saying that "y'all" can be used to refer to one person?

Yes. Particularly if the speaker is black.

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