I wanted to know if "ye" is widely used in Ireland including Dublin area. And more specifically, if it is commonly used by Millennials and younger generations, or rather is becoming less common. Many thanks!
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2There's a good discussion here including a Twitter survey: stancarey.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/… You could try Googling for more results.– Stuart FCommented Jun 11, 2022 at 10:41
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Thanks for the link. I am hoping for accounts of personal experiences as native Hiberno-English speakers regarding the use of "ye", that's mainly why I've posted.– Dan93Commented Jun 11, 2022 at 11:42
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In speech or writing? ye in speech could sound a whole lot like a quick you especially when thinking about accents. You might hear it as ye but the speaker might be thinking “you” when he speaks it.– JimCommented Jun 11, 2022 at 18:09
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In speech mostly.– Dan93Commented Jun 12, 2022 at 7:01
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It's Scottish rather than Irish, but I recall Star Trek novelizations having Scotty say "ye" often. But I think it was intended as a transliteration of the accent, not the archaic word.– BarmarCommented Jun 14, 2022 at 0:47
1 Answer
In my experience (52 year old Irish male), 'ye' has always been more used in midlands, southern and western rural areas in Ireland, and in the cities in those regions. It would be very common in Cork and Limerick counties & cities for example. It's not used in Dublin at all, there they would say 'yiz' or 'youse', for example "how are yiz all doing?". 'Ye' would also be heard less and less as you go north and not at all in Northern Ireland.
On the subject of younger people using it, I would say that in the rural areas mentioned above it's as prevalent as ever, maybe a bit less so in urban areas.
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3I can confirm in N Ireland people often say youse and rarely say ye or yiz for the plural you - those 2 versions sound very Southern-Irish to Ulster ears.– k1eranCommented Jul 14, 2022 at 13:04
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Nothing soothes my soul like an accurate and direct answer based on personal knowledge.– LambieCommented Jul 14, 2022 at 15:13