🚀 go-pugleaf

In response to my recent net/work poll on Texas slang:

>What's the proper spelling?
>
>A. yall
>B. ya'll
>C. y'all
>D. other (please specify)

The responses to the net poll were as follows

0 - yall
3 - ya'll
9 - y'all

In the same hallway poll at work, the responses were:

0 - yall
9 - ya'll
19 - y'all

Many people stated that it's a contracted form of "you all" and therefore
the apostraphe belongs where the 'ou' was dropped (i.e. "y'all").  This is
also my own personal position on the matter.  Someone at work actually
found an entry for "y'all" in a dictionary (although it doesn't appear in
my Webster's).

A convincing counterargument, however, is that it's a contracted form
of "ya all".  According to this argument, a real Texan says "ya" instead
of "you" as in "how ya doin?" or "ya wanna go get some beers?".  In the
contracted form, the 'a' from "all" is dropped, not the 'a' from "ya"
which results in "ya'll".  The reason for dropping the 'a' from "all" is
because it is consistent with most other contractions (i.e. we're, he'll,
you'd, etc.) in which the *second* word of the contraction is shortened.
The problem I see with this argument is that the 'a' in "ya" sounds like
"uh" while the 'a' in "all" sounds like "ah".  The 'a' in "ya'll" sounds
like "ah", so it must be the 'a' from "all" and not the 'a' from "ya" (in
which case the apostraphe is in the wrong place). 

A few people stated that even though they voted for "y'all" or "ya'll",
they often just write "yall" because it is easier to type and they
don't have to worry about getting the apostraphe wrong.

Thanks to those who responded!

Rich White (rwhite@ftw.mot.com)