why do black people pronounce the word 'ask' as 'arksk'?

Question

One of my black friends say's it that way and since I noticed that I've become aware that most black people do. It's so funny that peole instantly jump on high horses and want to make it into a racist issue. I'm simply making an observation about a trend in London and wondered if anyone knew the origin. There are differences between different races, and it's lovely to know why...it makes the world a more interesting place.

bama grad - its because of over-reacting idiots like you that racism is so prevalent in our society. this was a light-hearted observation of a pronunciation variant which, in london, is common. the answer that it is an americanism is probably the truth and so i guess my resonable question has been answered. ****!

Answer 1

OK, firstly yes you should have said "some" black people.
But anyway, I know exactly what you mean but do not know the reason.
I have heard it pronounced "arks" and also "aks".
I love it!!!


EDIT
Why is everyone getting so sensitive about this. They were only asking if anyone knew of a specific reason why it was pronounced this way. I agree that not ALL black people say it this way but some DO.
My husband pronounces loads of words differently and I love it, it's part of who he is.

Answer 2

If you're however striving to improve you are straight and you're trying to get the hands over the rim, set Vert Shock to the check, an application you will think it is here https://tr.im/non8W  and give it a try, you'll be astonished of how fast you may become a monster hopper in the event that you prepare the proper way.
This system will not cause you to jump thousands of occasions because Vert Shock was developed and employed by actual elite level basketball players.
In regards down to it, in the event that you really want to jump larger, you just discovered the best system on the planet to complete so. Any way might merely be a spend of time.

Answer 3

A lot of people do, not just Blacks.

When I was a kid (all white school), a lot of kids said this, and some would tease, for example, "You're going to ax the teacher? Why would you do that?"

Basically, the reason people pronounce it as ax rather than ask is that the s-then-k sound is a lot harder, over time, that will possibly become the accepted pronunciation (as often happens with languages).

k-then-s s is a lot easier

Do each combo a few times.

It's harder to say ask because you're first using the back, then front, then back of your mouth to say it; it's physically easier to go in one direction, if you follow me.

If you've ever seen the movie My Cousin Vinny (which I highly recommend, it's a GREAT movie), you may notice that some characters pronounce the word accessory 'assessory', leaving out the hard c.

Exactly the same thing. Vinny, at least does so, and pronounces ask ax.

(Unfortunately for me, that and people who pronounce the t in 'often' both drive my batty -- but that's just me.)

Answer 4

This is a variation on the pronounciation "aks". It is true that in Standard English "aksed" is nowconsidered incorrect. But most of the assertions about it being the result of ignorance or laziness are themselves ignorant.

For one thing, this pronounciation was NOT invented by the black community, or some part of it. Rather it is a dialectal variation within English. In fact, it is a VERY OLD variation. That is why you will find BOTH "aks" and "ask" in Old English and in the Middle English writing of Chaucer.

In 17th century England, "aks" was the standard in one of the four major British dialects of the early American settlers.

"From 1642-1675 the Royalists, also called Cavaliers, fled from the south and southwest England with their indentured servants and settled in Virginia when the English Civil War against Charles I began. They brought with them their south England drawl (a drawing out of the vowels); they also brought such phrases as aksed (instead of asked), and ain't (instead of isn't). Royalists later settled the Carolinas as well. Southern English speech laid the foundation for the development of American Tidewater speech, or Coastal Southern English."
http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/AmericanDialects.htm

Since it was this group that held most of the black slaves, their dialect --including "aks"-- is the source of that pronunciation among certain parts of the black population today. Hence its inclusion in "ebonics".

Note that in this case it's not even possible to say that "ask" or "ask" is the "original form". But even if one or the other is, what may have happened is something quite common and widely accepted in language. . . a re-ordering of the sounds of words (often to make them easier to pronounce), that is formally called "metathesis". If you go back to Old English you will discover the words "brid", "thridde" and "hros". But now, through this process, we say "bird", "third" and "horse".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)
http://sps.k12.mo.us/khs/linguistics/lingtrms.htm#M

Answer 5

Well, for what it's worth i'm black and didn't see any real racism in the question.

I say 'ask' but i've encountered a few black people both Caribbean-born and English-born who do pronounce the word as 'arksk'. It may or may not predominately be a Jamaican thing.

Personally, i get a little tetchy over people who says 'haitch' instead of 'aitch'. When the hell did that start?!

Answer 6

Well I have heard it "aks or ax" but not arksk. I also agree he asked a question that was worded wrong. He said "most" black people. Maybe that is true where he lives. Anyhow I didn't see what the big racial thing was about. If anything those of you who are attacking the way white people say things , firstly are losing your argument by categorizing all whites, something you said he did to all blacks. Secondly he wasn't insulting anyone. He didn't say they were uneducated or anything of such that should offend. Another question blown out of proportion. Grow up people!!

Answer 7

Actually, this is not an Americanism. In Old English times the pronunciation of the verb alternated between ascian and axian. This is the same metathesis that gave us the two verbs task and tax from the single Old English verb tascian (pronounced both tascian and taxian in Old English). So the "ax" pronunciation of "ask" is as old as English itself. It's not an Americanism. It's not "black". It's from Old English. They were a bunch of white guys as I recall ;)

Answer 8

Not all Black people talk like that!

It's a regional accent - many Black American people with roots in the Deep South speak with a pronounced southern accent.

That's why they pronounce the word "ask" the same way you'd say "axe".

White southerners speak the exact same way.

By contrast, Blacks who do not have southern roots pronounce the word "ask" the standard way.

In your case, Black Englishmen who have roots in Jamaica would tend to speak with a Jamaican accent - and many people in Jamaica pronounce the word "ask" like "axe"

And that's not just BLACK Jamaicans who speak that way - I've known Chinese Jamaicans and White Jamaicans (yes, they have White people in Jamaica!) who pronounce it the exact same way!

By contrast, I'm sure there are lots of Black Englishmen who pronounce the word "ask" the standard way!

Answer 9

I am mixed parentage and I noticed this too. It always cracks me up...That one got past me as I have no idea why or how it started...Any black person on here that says they have not noticed is a liar.

It bloody irritates me every time I hear it...maybe they are trying to give the English language a new boost. Do you remember that a certain class of black people say it just as certain class of white British drop their H's and T's.

Truly when I hear a certain class of white Brit talk I cringe...I mean hey, it is their language and they can't even speak it properly. 'Arksk' is the least of the English languages problem when it comes to bastardising it

Answer 10

First of all, don't lump all Blacks into one catagory. Blacks come from different countries, have differernt cultures, and have different languages. For example, If I noticed that Irish people pronounce a word differently from, lets say, a Chinese-American am I then going to ask: "Why do all white people pronounce this word as such and such," based on the lone Irish nation? no. that would be ludicrous. Just because the Irish pronounce the word in that certain way doesn't mean that ALL white people pronounce the word that same way. Whites come from different backgrounds and countries, therefore, each would have their own way of pronouncing things. The same thing goes for everyone else. Each and every person pronounces things differently based on the region or country that they come from. Not based on the color of their skin.