From formulaic collective address to plural pronoun

Abstract

This paper examines a little-known composite second-person plural pronoun that has received no systematic attention in the historical-linguistic literature to date: among(st)-you . Drawing on a broad range of textual sources, we first map the geographical distribution of this pronoun across the anglophone world. The feature is shown to cluster in the Caribbean and in the Chesapeake-Delmarva region in the U.S., with peripheral, semi-grammaticalized attestations also in East Anglia. We then offer a discourse-pragmatic account of its emergence, arguing that the among(st)-you pronoun likely developed in formal, formulaic (and possibly religious) registers of communal address. This contrasts sharply with other, more popular American English compounds such as you all and you uns which emerged within informal, colloquial discourse. To account for the feature’s geographic spread, we outline a salient transfer scenario involving Nonconformist expansion. Finally, to situate the phenomenon in a wider perspective, we provide pronominal comparanda from two little-known non-standard varieties of English and Dutch.