# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![phi2dao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@phi2dao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phi2dao)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/61 "2010-11-19T17:09:26Z")
Though it seems kind of weird, two consonants switching places is a actually a pretty common sound change. It is know as [Metathesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_%28linguistics%29). There are lots of examples on the Wiki page, but some from Old English are: ‘horse’ from ‘hros’, ‘bird’ from ‘bryd’, ‘wasp’ from ‘wæps’, and even ‘third’ from ‘three’. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/62 "2010-11-19T17:10:39Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > But not really. All the examples you gave are instances of simply dropping a sound, i.e., one or more letters become silent but the word is otherwise pronounced as spelled. Pronouncing “ask” as “ax”, however, is pronouncing the letters in the opposite order from the spelling. I wonder if there is any example of a pronunciation that is commonly accepted as the standard pronunciation that does this. (I do **not** count “nookyoolar” as the standard pronunciation of “nuclear”, or “asterix” for “asterisk”.) Iron. Which used to be pronounced [ai ron]. “Bird” used to be “brid”. In that case the spelling changed to reflect the pronunciation. The reversal of sounds happens relatively often. We don’t base our pronunciations on spellings, we base them on how we learn to pronounce them. ---
**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, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/63 "2010-11-19T17:17:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No they don’t. If I had any money, I’d bet some that _you_ typically pronounce it “ast”. Pretty much everyone does. ---
**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, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/64 "2010-11-19T17:20:24Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If I had any money, I’d bet some that _you_ typically pronounce it “ast”. > > Pretty much everyone does. No. Not in the least. I say asked, the way it’s spelled. I have no reason to lie to you about his. ---
**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, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/65 "2010-11-19T17:20:25Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I don’t buy this theory. Lazy pronunciation may account for substitutions such as “wadder” for water or or dropping consonants or syllables such as Wens-day or Li- berry but not a reversal of consonant sounds. > By this logic, how do you account for people pronouncing “street” as Sh-treet? Shtreet is easier to pronounce than street. (Sh is a lot more like the following sound, which is _not_ in most dialects a ‘t’ sound but rather a ‘ch’ sound.) That said, it’s not like you can really explain every alternative pronunciation in terms of “laziness” or what’s “easier.” ---
**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, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/66 "2010-11-19T17:21:21Z")
> [@phi2dao](#): > > ‘wasp’ from ‘wæps’, In which case it has changed back to the original, as it is derived from Latin _“vespa”_. ---
**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, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/67 "2010-11-19T17:21:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. Not in the least. I say asked, the way it’s spelled. I have no reason to lie to you about his. But it is extremely common for people not to know this kind of thing about themselves. I had a funny conversation once with a friend about the fact that the word “truck” is almost universally pronounced “chruck.” She insisted she didn’t pronounce it this way, and demonstrated several times, being as carefully as she possibly could. She couldn’t hear it for some reason, but she was unquestionably saying “chruck”, not “truck.” And you are almost certainly saying “ast,” not “asked,” when saying the word in normal casual conversation. ---
**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, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/68 "2010-11-19T17:35:01Z")
Great, now I’m sitting at work talking out loud to myself! 😃 I see what you mean, and there’s perhaps a bit of smooshing together of sounds in there if I try to talk quickly. I still don’t think it sounds like “ast,” but it may not sound exactly like “asked” either. Somewhere between the two: if that’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/69 "2010-11-19T17:35:11Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > I used “lazy” as a placeholder to describe expenditure of calories and not morality. If it takes 0.002 calories to say “ax” but it takes 0.003 calories to say “ask”, I think civilization will evolve to pronounce it as ax. > > If you say “ask” very slowly, you’ll notice that the 1st part of the sound is closing the teeth to hiss out the “s” and followed by a 2nd motion involving the back of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth to momentarily block the airflow for the “k” sound. It’s 2 motions (albeit very fast). > > Saying “ax” is one motion. Observe very small children that start to speak their first words. It’s much easier to say “ax” then “ask”. They eventually grow out of it and start to to pronounce it the prim and proper “ask.” However, for the human race as a whole, that trailing “k” sound is fragile and is ripe to get dropped. It won’t tomorrow but maybe in a dozen generations. You’re speaking in extremely general terms here. I’m willing to consider that for **some English speakers** , “axe” is easier to pronounce than “ask”. But for “the human race as a whole”? I’m not buying that. **Leaffan** mentioned Brett Favre. His last name comes from French, and except for the last ‘e’ which isn’t voiced, is pronounced basically the way it’s spelled in French. (It’s not an especially common name, but I’ve seen it, and its variant “Fabre”, elsewhere.) In English, it’s pronounced “Farv”. Which one is objectively easier to say? Or is it that the French pronunciation isn’t natural to English speakers, so they change it to something that’s more natural to them? ETA: > [@Leaffan](#): > > I still don’t think it sounds like “ast,” but it may not sound exactly like “asked” either. Somewhere between the two: if that’s possible. I don’t pronounce “asked” exactly like the “ast” in “fast”, but the difference is slight. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/70 "2010-11-19T17:47:56Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. Not in the least. I say asked, the way it’s spelled. I have no reason to lie to you about his. Same here. I’d feel like I were speaking black English if I were to say (for example), “I _ast_ the accountant where my records were.” Because I don’t know all of the fancy rules for transliterating spoken speech, I prounce it (and generally hear it) as _ask’d_. Really, and seriously. Hearing _ast_ would be quite jarring unless I were in rural Oklahoma or some place where they speak like that. ---
**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, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/71 "2010-11-19T18:02:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Great, now I’m sitting at work talking out loud to myself! 😃 The dope often does this to me as well. 😃 ---
**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, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/72 "2010-11-19T18:06:56Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > You’re speaking in extremely general terms here. I’m willing to consider that for **some English speakers** , “axe” is easier to pronounce than “ask”. But for “the human race as a whole”? I’m not buying that. The intricate enunciation of words tends to evolve towards from complex to the less complex. I base my comment on 2 things: 1. how small babies first talk – they say “can I ass/ax for a cookie” instead of “can I ask for a cookie” – “ass” or “ax” is easier for them to pronounce. 2. how many adults that properly pronounce “ask” lose that intricate enunciation when drunk or under heavy sedatives. If ass/axe/ask were truly all equal in pronunciation effort, then the drunk would “regress” from ass to ask and that doesn’t happen. In both cases, we regress to the bare minimum and expend the least amount of mouth energy to be intelligible. I’ve done a lot of audio recording where enunciation is critical. If the diction wasn’t clear and crisp, we had to redo the take again. If the voice talent hasn’t gotten enough sleep, that’s enough to cause a noticeable drop in enunciation. Ask becomes ass/axe quite easily under fatigue or drunkenness. **Frylock** , I’m not claiming that every pronunciation variation is explained by laziness. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/73 "2010-11-19T18:12:57Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > 1. how many adults that properly pronounce “ask” lose that intricate enunciation when drunk or under heavy sedatives. If ass/axe/ask were truly all equal in pronunciation effort, then the drunk would “regress” from ass to ask and that doesn’t happen. People tend to regress into their dialect when they are drunk. I’ve never heard of anyone who did not say “axe” around their family or friends say it when drunk. I know I certainly don’t. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/74 "2010-11-19T18:15:11Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If I had any money, I’d bet some that _you_ typically pronounce it “ast”. > > Pretty much everyone does. Huh. I’ll have to pay attention. I’ve always said “askt.” Definite back-of-the-throat “k” in there. ---
**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, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/75 "2010-11-19T18:27:40Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > People tend to regress into their dialect when they are drunk. I’ve never heard of anyone who did not say “axe” around their family or friends say it when drunk. I know I certainly don’t. To clarify, I’m not saying being drunk guarantees that the person will say “axe.” I’m saying if a person succumbs to intoxication, sedatives, or fatigue _and_ if their pronunciation changes – it’s _not_ going to change from the less complex to the more complex. That “k” sound on the trailing end of “ask” adds slightly more complexity to the the sound. It’s fragile and intricate. We shouldn’t be so surprised if all English speakers (who aren’t drunk or tired) drop the “k” sound after 200 years. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/76 "2010-11-19T18:32:02Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > But it’s not _cu-_, it’s _cou-_. > > Cough, council, count, counter, coup, coupe, couple, couplet, coupon, courage, court, course, cousin . . . A _cue-_ pronunciation for _coupon_ would definitely be anomalous. And, in fact, I’ve never heard it, or been aware of its existence, until I read this thread. You seem to be arguing that “cou-” has a standard pronunciation, and that “cue” isn’t it. But your examples don’t support that at all. There are at least six different pronunciations there (in my dialect at least) cough: caw council, counter: cow coup, coupe: coo couple, couplet, cousin: cuh courage: cur court, course: coar So, why couldn’t “cue” also be a valid pronunciation for that spelling? Clearly there’s nothing in the spelling that suggests a standard pronunciation. ---
**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, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/77 "2010-11-19T18:40:30Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > **Frylock** , I’m not claiming that every pronunciation variation is explained by laziness. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I was replying to someone who I thought was taking your claim too far in that direction, referring to your “logic” as though you _did_ think every language change is driven by a drive to simplification. ---
**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, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/78 "2010-11-19T18:40:49Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Great, now I’m sitting at work talking out loud to myself! 😃 > > I see what you mean, and there’s perhaps a bit of smooshing together of sounds in there if I try to talk quickly. > > I still don’t think it sounds like “ast,” but it may not sound exactly like “asked” either. Somewhere between the two: if that’s possible. I’d say that’s quite possible, even probable. I’m sitting here talking to myself too, and realizing that saying the full _k_ sound immediately followed by the full _d_ sound feels clumsy and cumbersome, and virtually nobody does it. That said, I’m not dropping the _k_ altogether; more like I’m sort of giving up on it halfway through before moving on to the _d_. This all assumes, of course, that the _e_ is silent. _Asked_ would be more easily pronounced if it weren’t, like in _pointed_, for instance. Yet it sounds funny only because we don’t traditionally say it that way. Are there any dialects that do so? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/79 "2010-11-19T20:30:59Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > The “yoo” in place of “oo” is, I believe a Texas/southwestern innovation. I base this assumption on conversations with an old friend of mine from Texas who went to extremes in this matter (e.g. “He NYOO he was dyin’ when they started stickin’ those TYOOBS into 'im”.) Irish people also pronounce these words in the way you’ve described. Are you sure about which pronunciation is the innovation? ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/80 "2010-11-19T20:54:54Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Irish people also pronounce these words in the way you’ve described. Are you sure about which pronunciation is the innovation? No, not sure at all. Texas-talk was where I heard it first, but it certainly could come from another source…probably did in fact. It’s interesting that in the rural Ozark region (which is pretty close to Texas, geographically and culturally) linguists in the 1930’s identified dialects that were remarkably close to Elizabethan English. They theorized that these places were so isolated that the language of the earliest settlers had stayed fairly “pure”. Is it possible that Irish-English, “Ozarkese” and Texas-speak all hark back to that original source? Intriguing idea. SS [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177.md?page=5)