Extended assembly in GreenHills compiler

On Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:32:03 +0100, David Brown wrote:
> 
> I would have written "yous", if the second person plural existed in
> English (outside of Glasgow).

Technically, "you" _is_ the second-person plural: "thee" and "thou" are 
second-person singular.  "You" became the way to talk to one's king or 
liege lord as the holder of the office (because you were talking to the 
guy and everyone he represented).  Then it became a flattering "formal 
you" to anyone in authority (this what I was taught in German class, with 
"Sie" vs. "du").  Then it just became universal, with "thee" and "thou" 
dropping out of use.

But, functionally "you" has become second-person numberless, with things 
like "yous" (or "y'all", which I find charming and sometimes use to 
prevent ambiguity, even if I am a lout from Oregon) rising into the 
place.  You can think of "yous" as "thems".

-- 
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com

On 14/12/12 19:52, Tim Wescott wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:32:03 +0100, David Brown wrote:
>>
>> I would have written "yous", if the second person plural existed in
>> English (outside of Glasgow).
>
> Technically, "you" _is_ the second-person plural: "thee" and "thou" are
> second-person singular.  "You" became the way to talk to one's king or
> liege lord as the holder of the office (because you were talking to the
> guy and everyone he represented).  Then it became a flattering "formal
> you" to anyone in authority (this what I was taught in German class, with
> "Sie" vs. "du").  Then it just became universal, with "thee" and "thou"
> dropping out of use.
>

It's not quite that simple - or at least, it does not generalise.  While 
many languages (such as French and German) use the plural "you" as a 
formal "you", other languages make more distinctions.  In Norwegian 
(bokmål), for example, second-person informal singular is "du", informal 
plural is "dere", and formal you is "De" in singular and plural.  The 
formal you here is the same as "they" (though it is written with a 
capital) - just as in German.

Of course you are correct that in English it is the singular 
second-person pronoun "thou" that has fallen out of use.

> But, functionally "you" has become second-person numberless, with things
> like "yous" (or "y'all", which I find charming and sometimes use to
> prevent ambiguity, even if I am a lout from Oregon) rising into the
> place.  You can think of "yous" as "thems".
>

I have heard that in some parts of the USA, "y'all" is considered 
singular second-person, with "all y'all" being the plural form...

On Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:32:03 +0100, David Brown
<david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> wrote:

>I would have written "yous", if the second person plural existed in 
>English (outside of Glasgow)

Quite common in parts of the south-eastern US.

George Neuner wrote:

> Quite common in parts of the south-eastern US.

Ah, the bible belt... The place where Adam and Eve
used to hunt dinosaurs 6000 years ago, and where
Evolution is a "theory" not a theory.

Slightly more progressive than Saudi Arabia, though.

You may now return to your scheduled broadcast.