Yersels

Part of speech: pronoun

Definitions

1. Used in Scots and northern English dialect to refer back to the people being addressed, as in the reflexive form of you
2. A dialect form of yourselves, used to refer back to a group being spoken to as the object or emphasis of an action
3. The reflexive pronoun for a group addressed directly, found in Scottish and northern English speech in place of yourselves

Etymology: "Yersels" is a Scots and northern English dialect form of "yourselves," the plural reflexive pronoun. It is the second-person plural of "self" used with "yer" (your) or "your," so "yersels" means "you yourselves" in the sense "you lot, by yourselves." Its use is typical of speakers in Scotland and northern England, where "yer" is a reduced form of "your" and "yersel" is the singular equivalent, as in "Dae it yersel" ("do it yourself"). The "-s" plural ending attaches to "yersel" in the same way "ourselves" and "themselves" are formed from "our self" and "them self" in standard English, though the standard plural in English is "yourselves." The form reflects the older English pattern in which "self" was a noun that could be pluralised, a pattern that survives in dialect speech while standard English has settled on "yourselves."