Good morning, Chattanooga — Trista here. 👋 I’m somewhat of a grammar + language fiend and I love learning about the origin of words (a.k.a. etymology). The Grammar Girl podcast is one of my all-time faves. So needless to say, I was pretty excited to write about one of the South’s favorite words: y’all.
While the word y’all is ubiquitous among native Southerners, I’ve had teachers, friends, and acquaintances tell me it’s not a word at all. (And that’s false.)
Unlike many languages, English lacks a second-person plural , so the word “you” can be used to address a single person or a group of people. For clarity, many American English speakers in regions around the country have adopted the phrase “you all” to indicate a multitude, and y’all just so happens to be a grammatically-acceptable contraction of that (although similar words like you’uns or youse are typically less adored by strict grammarians).
But there are rules, y’all. As with any linguistic contraction — think I’m, she’s, won’t, we’ve — the apostrophe replaces letters that are missing from the full word or phrase. Since y’all is the abbreviated form of “you all,” the apostrophe is placed where the o + u are missing. Thus, y’all not ya’ll.
Another benefit of using it? It’s totally gender neutral .
If y’all are interested in learning more about the history of this or other Southern dialectisms, check out the following titles: the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English , The Companion to Southern Literature + Speaking American: How Y’all, Youse, and You Guys Talk .