Here’s looking at youse: Understanding the place of yous(e) in Australian English
Abstract
This chapter further documents the place of yous(e) in Australian English (AuE) by analyzing occurrences in Australian literature taken from the Macquarie Dictionary’s OzCorp. Firstly, we substantiate that in AuE yous(e) has developed a singular usage alongside the plural. Analysis of the reference in 308 tokens within our subcorpus of literature finds 40% clearly have a singular referent and that such forms occur in just over half of the texts. Secondly, we provide an analysis of its social evaluation as a stigmatized form by examining its utilization in the voices authors give to their characters. Focussing on texts with high use, we uncover yous(e) is linked both to particular ‘types’ and to certain fictional worlds/milieus. In both cases, the authors draw on understandings of it as Australian and working class, with recognition of its claimed Irish origins only (potentially) indirectly indexed.Citation
Mulder, J., & Penry Williams, C. (2020). 'Here’s looking at youse: Understanding the place of yous(e) in Australian English'. In Allan, K. (Ed.). 'Dynamic language changes: Looking within and across languages'. Singapore: Springer, pp. 57–72.Publisher
SpringerDOI
10.1007/978-981-15-6430-7Additional Links
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811564291Type
Book chapterLanguage
enISBN
9789811564307ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/978-981-15-6430-7