I keep hearing African-Americans say, "can i ax you a question?". Why does that word consistently get mis-pronounced by the same group of people? Where is it coming from?
2006-07-20 08:27:49 · 29 answers · asked by Umesh S 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
hahahaaaa
2006-07-20 08:30:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Same reason white men can't dance.
(just kidding)
We are all unique in our cultures.
Every single culture has something different from another culture because God is a God of variety.
Black people can say the word "ask" the same as anyone else, but it's a culture thing.
Some just prefer to say "ax"
Don't lump everyone in the same bowl.
Even in the same culture, there are differences.
Many white people also
say "ax" instead of "ask"
If they were brought up hearing that word that way,
it's a hard habit to break.
Who says what is "proper" english anyhow?
The dictionaries keep changing. Maybe one day the
word ax" will be officially accepted as recognizeable as the word "ask"
A word is what is used to communicate. And if enough
people use the same word over and over again in the public ears...it will be recognized as an official word eventually.
Meanwhile, you can call it "slang" if you wish.
y'know?
2006-07-20 08:38:12 · answer #2 · answered by Joja 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, before we were kidnapped we spoke other languages. And African Languages generally do not have consonant pairs (or dipthongs) so that is why "ask" becomes "ax" "that" becomes "dat" and so on. Also in African languages the verb "be" is not conjugated. That is why Black people are always saying I be ....you be .... , she be .... ( as opposed to I am .... you are .... she is ....). The reason for this is simple. When ever someone learns a foreign language the first thing they do is learn the vocabulary of the new language. but they generally use the grammatical and idiomatic structure of there native tongue. What you hear when black people talk is is English vocabulary fit into African idiomatic structure. Over the generations some things are passed down and other things evolve.
2006-07-20 08:39:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all dialect. Why should it matter so much? In some areas people want a can of motor earl for their car. Or a can of motor awl. The east coast pronounces a lot of words with an "r" on the end, like Africa is Afriker. The west coast pronounces wash with an "r" in it, warsh. If you're not sure, just ask what they mean. They certainly don't mean any harm by doing this. It's just the way they learned it from their environment.
2006-07-20 08:51:49 · answer #4 · answered by wires 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not just African-Americans, white people do it too...for blacks it's more all over the country, but I know for a fact that Southern whites do it too. Wanna know how I know? I'm from the goddamn south!! Almost all the whites I know in New Orleans say it! I hear it almost everywhere I go from almost all English-speakers east of the Mississippi and below the Mason-Dixon line!! It's where you grow up and the dialect aound you. Since most of us (Southerners) speak that way, we tend to all use it and it doesn't bother anybody. It's second nature. So yea, I'm black, but I'm also Southern. Can I AX you a question? Why does it other you so much? Does "y'all" instead of "you all" bother you too? Forget about it, it's not gonna change anytime soon so just go with the flow.
2006-07-20 08:51:25 · answer #5 · answered by Lady Hurricane 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am african american and I do not mis-pronounce the word "ask". Maybe you should try asking the people who mis-pronounce it. Obviously it sounds like a lack of education in the grammar area. Which is very common among african american areas. We don't get the best schools in African American neighborhoods.
2006-07-20 08:33:13 · answer #6 · answered by *karasi* 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it's a sort of dialect of English belonging to that African American culture. Some African Americans who have left this culture and gone into the Caucasian culture may speak a different dialect of English that you consider more proper. Indeed, there are many Caucasians who have gone into the African American culture, such as those suburban white boys who listen and sing rap songs and pretend to be gangsters, who adopt this dialect as well. So, it's never a matter of skin color, but rather a matter of cultural identity. "Ask," along with many other words, may thus be said differently by different people.
2006-07-20 08:32:53 · answer #7 · answered by Captain Hero 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just because you hear some African-Americans Pronounce a word wrong doesn't mean they all do.
2006-07-20 09:46:17 · answer #8 · answered by Lawrence B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every nationality mis-pronounces words, don't just come on here asking a question as if it's just black people who say it like that because they aren't the only race..try asking better question that aren't offensive towards others :)
2006-07-20 08:35:08 · answer #9 · answered by Babii 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm African-American and I do not pronounce ASK that way. What other groups have you studied so carefully to see how well they pronounce the word ASK?
2006-07-20 08:34:06 · answer #10 · answered by brownie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ebonics...its a common dialect of AMERICAN people. I think that other sub cultures within America have their own dialects. Such as the New York accent, the Southern States accents, the midwestern accent, and east coast accent. All forms of different dialects. I know I have a lot of black friends who make fun of the way a lot of white people pronoun the word "on", don't be so offended by use of incorrect grammar, it shouldn't irritate you this much, its unimportant to your existence.
2006-07-20 09:14:45 · answer #11 · answered by Fairy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋