# y'all

Pronunciation: say "YAWL" US /jɔl/, UK /jɔːl/

## Pronoun

1. More than one person being spoken to; the plural form of 'you'. *(dialectal, Appalachia, Caribbean, Singapore, Southern US)*
   - Simple: Two or more people that someone is speaking to.
   - _Y'all are welcome to stay as long as you like._
   - _Did y'all finish the project before the deadline?_
2. Everyone or everybody, used as a form of address when greeting a group of people. *(dialectal, Southern US)*
   - Simple: Everybody, used when you say hello to a group of people.
   - _Good evening, y'all, and welcome to the Friday night fish fry._
   - _Howdy, y'all! Grab a plate before the brisket runs out._
5. A single person being addressed, in the occasional use where the plural form refers to just one. *(dialectal, Southern US)*
   - Simple: A single person that someone is speaking to.
   - _I was talking to y'all, Maria, not anyone else in line._
   - _Y'all seem stressed today. Is everything all right with you?_

## Determiner

3. Used before a noun to indicate the group of people being spoken or written to.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to mean the group of people being spoken to.
   - _Y'all students should register before Friday's deadline._
   - _Y'all neighbors have always been kind to our family._
4. Belonging to or associated with the group being addressed; the plural form of 'your'.
   - Simple: Belonging to the group of people being spoken to.
   - _We borrowed y'all's ladder over the weekend to fix the roof._
   - _Y'all's directions got us here without a single wrong turn._

## Verb

6. To address someone by using the pronoun 'y'all'. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To say the word 'y'all' when speaking to people.
   - _He tends to y'all strangers as easily as old friends._
   - _The waiter y'alled the whole table and took their orders._

## Origin

A contraction of "you all," and/or from Scots "ye aw," attested since at least 1631. It shows a development similar to Dutch jullie (originally jij lui, literally "you people").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/y-all (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).