site banner
bolido_sentimental  1yr ago (text post)   4133 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas, everyone!

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

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?

I've always heard y'all to refer to one person with all y'all is the plural form.

Yes. Particularly if the speaker is black.

In some contexts, yes, it's used as a sort of a formal or impersonal version of the 2nd-person singular. Especially in customer service contexts you'll sometimes hear a singular "y'all" as a sign of respectful distance between the speaker and the person being addressed.

(Note: my comment is referring to standard usage in Texas and isn't directly addressing the point above about black American vernacular).

At least by the members of my extended family in Texas, y'all is singular, all y'all, is plural.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats