# Why do some people pronounce "ask" as "aks"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177 "2010-11-19T02:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/21 "2010-11-19T08:52:10Z")
don’t aks me. ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/22 "2010-11-19T10:24:47Z")
/OT Is it just me or is the term African American English very cumbersome, and somewhat schizophrenic? 🙂 /OT OFF ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/23 "2010-11-19T10:26:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Axe” is also, by the way, the original pronunciation. “Ask” is a change. From [Merriam-Webster online](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ask): > [@](#): > > Origin of ASK > > Middle English, from Old English āscian; akin to Old High German eiscōn to ask, Lithuanian ieškoti to seek, Sanskrit icchati he seeks > > First Known Use: before 12th century ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/24 "2010-11-19T10:47:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Mary Niepokuj at Purdue commented: > I’m not absolutely sure how the word entered African > American English as /aks/; my guess (but it’s just a > guess) might be that the form /aks/ was the form most > commonly used in the dialect of English to which the > slaves were originally exposed… Fascinating theory. Datapoint: I hear “aks” also from black Afro-Caribbean people too. Not sure if that’s endemic or relatively recent cross-pollination from US ebonics. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/25 "2010-11-19T11:20:20Z")
As a non-native speaker who has never heard this usage before, I find this thread quite fascinating. Just allow me one question: If you use the “aks” pronunciation (which, according to what has be said by others, is acceptable), what do you say if you used in the third person singular? “He akses”? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/26 "2010-11-19T11:31:31Z")
In the third person singular, in that dialect, you’d just say “aks”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/27 "2010-11-19T11:49:10Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > In the third person singular, in that dialect, you’d just say “aks”. I believe it’s the same in the past tense too. “Yesterday I aks him.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/28 "2010-11-19T12:35:11Z")
I would like to have aks(ed ?) him doesn’t quite seem right though 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/29 "2010-11-19T13:00:17Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I believe it’s the same in the past tense too. “Yesterday I aks him.” I’ve heard the past tense with a “ed” before, like: “So I axed him what was wrong, and he said he got fired..” ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/30 "2010-11-19T14:03:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Say this word: “Zebra.” I guarantee the way you said it isn’t at all the way anyone in the world said it 150 years ago. “ZEE-bruh” How did people say it 150 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/31 "2010-11-19T14:05:01Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > “So I axed him what was wrong, and he said he got fired..” You mean he got _axed_. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/32 "2010-11-19T14:09:40Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > “ZEE-bruh” > > How did people say it 150 years ago? “striped horse” That’s what the Hungarian’s called it. It’s tricky because the “z” sound is silent in “striped” and the “b” sound is hardly noticable in “horse.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/33 "2010-11-19T14:11:46Z")
Cue-pon Chube (tube) Chuesday Scottish 101. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/34 "2010-11-19T14:20:22Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > “ZEE-bruh” Or Zeh-brah in Britain. Very few words are pronounced phonetically, ‘as they are spelled’. The letters ‘cu’ could refer to several different sounds actually, not just ‘koo’. Take the word abacus for example, you pronounce it ‘kuh’. What about the word cube? Do you say koob? There’s no Q. Fact is, spelling only has a cursory relevance to how we pronounce things. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/35 "2010-11-19T14:21:57Z")
Here’s another relevant reference: > **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=19991216)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. So the variation between /ask/ and /aks/ in different dialects of English both in the U.S. and in the U.K. has been around for a long time. I can’t quickly find any reference, but the variation between /ku/ and /kyu/ has also been around for a long time. To return to the OP then, in general it’s a bad idea to assume that because something is pronounced in a certain way in your dialect and another way in someone else’s dialect, the way you pronounce it is obviously standard and the way someone else pronounces it is their own bizarre choice. The same is true in grammar and vocabulary. Unless you’re a scholar of the history of English, you don’t know accurately what items of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc. of English are of long standing and which are recent innovations. In fact, it often happens that people don’t even accurately know the way they speak themselves. They will insist that they don’t use some particular item of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc. and then a few minutes later in conversation will use that item themselves. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/36 "2010-11-19T14:39:23Z")
The problem is when the so-called dialects overlap in a region. We figuratively beat “aks” and “liberry” out of children’s pronuciations around here. I would only accept “aks” from a person who was raised with that pronuciation if they spelled it “a-k-s”. The word spelled a-s-k has only only one pronuciation. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/37 "2010-11-19T14:54:39Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > The word spelled a-s-k has only only one pronuciation. No, it really doesn’t! Take the vowel at the beginning. Is it æ, or ɑː? Both are equally valid. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/38 "2010-11-19T14:56:49Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > It is relevant because it addresses a point you yourself made, namely, that the absence of a Q gives you a hint about the pronunciation of _coupon_. > [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > What about the word cube? Do you say koob? There’s no Q. Yes, yes, I am well aware that there is no **letter Q** in the spelling of the word “coupon”; I was referring to the **sound**. I have heard lots of people pronounce it both ways (“koo-pon” and “kyoo-pon”), but the “kyoo-pon” pronunciation has always struck me as strange: I wonder where it came from, since there’s nothing in the word’s spelling that would give rise to a “kyoo” sound. Some people here have tried to argue that it’s analogous to words with a “cu,” like “cube” or “curious” or “cucumber,” but that doesn’t really explain it because “coupon” is spelled with a “cou,” not a “cu,” and I don’t know of any other “cou” words that people pronounce with a “kyoo” sound. (Although now that I’ve said so, someone will probably come along to point one out.) ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/39 "2010-11-19T15:00:04Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I would only accept “aks” from a person who was raised with that pronuciation if they spelled it “a-k-s”. The word spelled a-s-k has only only one pronuciation. How do you pronounce “knee”? Is it kuh-nee or nee? “Wednesday”? Is it Woden’s-day or wenzday? “February”? febyouary? It’s not a negative decay. It’s just evolution. “Wednesday” –\> wenzday …same type of transformation as… “ask” –\> ax Give it 150 years and probably _everybody_ will pronounce it as ax. It requires less effort to pronounce. The human race is lazy. Pronouncing “ask” like ass-kuh is almost blurting out 2 separate syllables. That’s too much work. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/40 "2010-11-19T15:07:01Z")
Hmmm… Well, I say WeDnesday, and FebRuary, and aSk, and it doesn’t seem to require any extra effort on my behalf. How is the pronunciation of a three letter word any easier one way or the other? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177.md?page=3)