Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
I am a native speaker of the Arabic language, which has six forms of the pronoun “you,” depending upon the number (one, two, three or more) and gender (male, female) of the subject(s) being addressed. I fully agree with Steve Chapman (“Do y’all hear what I’m startin’ to hear?” Commentary, Jan. 21) that “y’all” fulfills a very important need, in a very civilized and aesthetic manner.
It just so musically rolls off the tongue.
Consider the alternatives: “you,” which is ambiguous; and “you guys,” which is inaccurate and sexist.
