2006-07-31 08:29:17 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
hahahahahahaha, funny...but wrong on so many levels
2006-07-31 08:32:49 · answer #1 · answered by Lindsey 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
1
2016-12-20 06:06:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is called slang. Some people are more charmed by it than others. Often slang is an art of twisting the language to convey new meaning. I would say pronouncing 'ask' as 'axe' might be done to convey a more forceful form of asking. There are many places in this world where your 'properly' pronounced words would be laughed at and your command of the language, social skills and intelligence would be called into question for using them. There is an appropriate time and place for slang, as well as proper English.
2006-08-01 07:50:42 · answer #3 · answered by FreddyBoy1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suppose you are interpreting this as similar to a child's mistakenly saying "pisghetti" instead of "spaghetti". It isn't.
The pronunciations "ask" and "ax" were dialectal variations in Middle English. Thus we find Chaucer using BOTH forms.
In fact, the variation it goes even further back. Here's a dictionary listing of the word's history:
"Middle English asken, from Old English csian, scian"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ask
Yes, most dialects ended up with "ask" and it is now the standard. But the form you are looking at did NOT come from a mistake.
2006-07-31 14:56:23 · answer #4 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bruhaha is absolutely right. I believe that black people are using the more historical pronunciation, and that speakers of other dialects (i.e. "white people") are the ones who transposed the sounds. Or perhaps they got transposed and then transposed back. Either way, it's not weird, but a natural process that can happen in any language. Another word in English to which this happened is "horse"; it used to be "hros".
2006-07-31 18:13:08 · answer #5 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never been aware of black people having trouble pronouncing "ask". However, I work with a very highly educated white woman who can't get her tongue around 'ask' and says "arks', much as a child would.
2006-07-31 08:35:01 · answer #6 · answered by Catherine L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The true pronunciation is "AX" in old or middle English. But English is always an evolving language and like all languages, pronunciations are always changing. Perhaps it might go back to its original pronunciation.
2006-07-31 17:28:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Um, I know a 'not black' dude who says 'axe' instead of ask... and I have a black friend who is a linguistic genius... so what does this mean? You are incorrect sir... and ignorant.
2006-07-31 08:33:26 · answer #8 · answered by palevox 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well that's a little racy...I know Terrence Howard can, if anyone watched Ellen Degeneres.
2006-07-31 08:35:40 · answer #9 · answered by GrnEyedGurl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Same reason that white trash like you pronounce "Wash" as "Warsh"
2006-07-31 08:33:00 · answer #10 · answered by chairman_of_the_bored_04 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ask them and find out! are you white cuz only white people ask questions like this!
2006-08-01 05:56:29 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋