Actually, this is not quite correct. Although "y'all" is obviously a
contraction of "you all" and as such is a plural, I have experienced being
addressed as "y'all" in the singular (by Chattanoogans born and bred), when
addressed as the representative of a group, as in "y'all come to dinner"
meaning myself and my family (who were not present).
In my Bible courses, I've used "y'all" as an explanatin of the Hebrew
plural forms "Elohim" and "Adonai", meaning "God" and "Lord" in the
singular. Something like the French "tous".
By the way, is that pronounced "tuze" or "tuzes" in Cajun?

Yigal


At 12:19 PM 6/24/2002 -0400, Lee Harris wrote:
>A previously-posted,forwarded email ("You know you're in...") stated:
>> > YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN THE SOUTH WHEN . . .
>> > - Y'all" is singular and "all Y'all" is plural.
>
>This egregious error was corrected in a message last Friday, posted by
>Claire McCullough:
>>True Southerners never refer to one person as "y'all."
>
>Thank you, Claire, for setting the record straight! Only Yankees, Hollywood
>directors and others who have never lived in the South think for a moment
>that "y'all" is singular. It is a contraction of "you all."
>
>
>Lee Harris
>
>
>*DISCLAIMER: the author of this email message was born in Illinois, raised
>in Tennessee, and spent several years in Texas.  Therefore, he is not
>"Certified Southern" by the Board of Underwriters, Barbecue and Biscuits
>Association (BUBBA).
>
Dr. Yigal Levin
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga TN 37403-2598
U.S.A.