[Ramona]

I have noticed that some black Americans use the word “ax” for the word “ask.” Why is this?

User Detail :  

Name : Ramona, Gender : F, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Robert O.]

That particular mispronunciation is not racially oriented, in my opinion. When I began college in 1955, in an all-male, private, expensive and white majority school in Schenectady, N.Y., I first heard that same mispronunciation from fellow pledges to a national fraternity. I would surmise it might stem from laziness, but certainly not from racial-ethnic background.

User Detail :  

Name : Robert O., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 61, City : Albany, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : LAN Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Temi]

I have trouble saying ‘ask’ sometimes. It’s not because I’m black. It’s just that the word has trouble getting out of my mouth right. That might be a reason.

User Detail :  

Name : Temi, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : Tallahassee, State : FL, Country : United States, 

[Orleanas]

I have noticed this also, but I don’t believe it’s only specific to someone’s race. I’m black and have no problem pronouncing the word. In fact, I find saying “axing” more difficult. I think the problem for others is that they’ve been so used to saying it the wrong way for so long that it has become natural. Had they been corrected early, they might not have this problem. I can tell you that this difficulty is not based on race, but rather on laziness.

User Detail :  

Name : Orleanas, Gender : F, Age : 20, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, 

[Gwen]

I’m curious about how a language pattern or dialect translates, in some folks’ minds, to laziness. Our language patterns are fixed at an early age and only change with strong motivations. Americans pronounce “schedule” as “skedule,” while Britains pronounce it “shedule.” Which group is lazy?

User Detail :  

Name : Gwen, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 52, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jean F.]

The pronunciation has nothing to do with laziness or race; it has to do with dialect, which is a subsystem of a main language. It does not reflect on personal characteristics of a person. Would you label a person from the Bronx lazy if he said qwater instead of quarter?

User Detail :  

Name : Jean F., Gender : F, City : Cleveland, State : OH, Country : United States, 

[Augustine23642]

Pronouncing “ask” as “ax” probably results from having grown up hearing it that way. Why do many black people (and probably a fair number of white people) have problems pronouncing it correctly? Who knows? Pronouncing words “by the letters” is a (white) American English trait nurtured in the early years of this country by a school system that sought to assimilate many different nationalities. British English is somewhat less precise in this way – while Oxbridge “Received Pronunciation” is very standardized, some regional variants of English pronunciation are virtually unintelligible (think of The Full Monty).

As far as “talking like you heard people talk growing up,” think of people who say “ain’t,” “would have went” and so on. They grow up hearing this, and even if they are taught correctly in school, their home and peer life influence them more, and “correct” pronunciation gets left at school instead of being taken into life.

User Detail :  

Name : Augustine23642, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Beth23201]

When i was younger, I had many problems speaking and being understood. I went to speech therapy even, and that still did not fix all of the words. I often said “ax” instead of “ask.” It’s just the way the word came out. It continued until classmates began to tease me about it, and then I learned to be careful and pronounce it properly. I am Caucasian, though my race is irrelevent in this case.

User Detail :  

Name : Beth23201, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Madison, State : WI, Country : United States, 

[Anonymous23731]

I think that people just develop the habit of saying ‘axe’ when they are very young. Many people lived in a home during childhood where the parents either didn’t correct them or didn’t know better themselves. As they grew older, they formed the habit of saying ‘axe’ and it became harder and harder to break.

User Detail :  

Name : Anonymous23731, Gender : F, Age : 11, City : A Great City, State : VA, Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, 

[Author]

Posts