# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**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 22, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/101 "2010-11-22T17:04:21Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > It stands to reason that … See, there’s your problem. Language isn’t always logical or reasonable. And you’d think English’s sometimes archaic orthography which preserves old spellings not analogous to their current pronunciations (like, say, “knight”) would be evidence enough of this. ---
**Author:** ![misterkrc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@misterkrc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterkrc)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/102 "2010-11-22T17:11:08Z")
ax is used to chop wood…:smack: ---
**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 22, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/103 "2010-11-22T18:15:20Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > You know damn well what I mean - vowels sounds float with regions. > > sk != ks in pronunciation unless you have a speech impediment. So do consonant sounds. Take rhoticity for example. You’re saying the people who say ‘aks’ or ‘arks’ have a speech impediment? That they pronounce it like that because they can’t do it they way you’re prescribing it? That’s clearly very wrong. Also, in that case, I must have a speech impediment because I often have difficulty naturally rolling my 'r’s when speaking quickly in French. No, the reason for that difficulty is that it isn’t a (common?) phoneme in English, I have’n’t grown up hearing it, and the people I converse with do not regularly use it. If an entire social group of people pronounce something a certain way, they’re not doing it because of some sort of disability as you’re suggesting, they’re doing it because that’s how it’s done. That’s how language works, whatever sounds communicate what you mean in the best way are the ‘right’ ones to use. It is clearly the best way to use that word for certain groups of people. ---
**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 22, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/104 "2010-11-22T18:33:36Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Coupon comes from the French verb “couper, to cut” (sounds like “coo-pay” to English ears), same as coup and coupe. It stands to reason that they’d be pronounced similarly. Do you say kyoop for coupe? This is just another argument along the same lines as the one I originally responded to. That poster claimed that the spelling of a word dictated its pronunciation, and I pointed out that his examples didn’t support that. Now you’re saying that the origin of the word dictates its pronunciation, but surely you know that there are hundreds (thousands?) of words that derive from French (or other languages), but are not pronounced the same in modern English (in every dialect). I bet you don’t pronounce “beef” like the french word it’s derived from. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/105 "2010-11-22T18:49:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Hmmm… > > Well, I say WeDnesday, and FebRuary, Arguably, you’re mispronouncing these words. I see that dictionaries do list the pronounciations you mention, but I’d have to hear it with my own ears to believe there are regions that actually pronounce them that way. I have never heard anything other than that the _standard pronounciations_ for these words are “wenzday” and “febyuary.” > [@](#): > > 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? Rearranging the letters causes changes in the amount by which different parts of the tongue must move. It’s the same as observing that it takes longer to travel from Dallas to Mississippi to New Orleans than it does to travel from Dallas to New Orleans to Mississippi. ---
**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 22, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/106 "2010-11-22T19:20:24Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I have never heard anything other than that the _standard pronounciations_ for these words are “wenzday” and “febyuary.” I hear “Feb **R** uary” often enough, and even use it myself along with the “Feb **Y** uary” pronuciation, much like I vacillate between “liberry” and “library.” So I don’t think the “R” pronunciation of that word is particularly uncommon, although it’s the minority pronunciation, in my experience. The “d” in Wednesday, though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/107 "2010-11-22T19:27:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The “d” in Wednesday, though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard. In British film and TV productions, I’ve heard “Weddensday,” which is also arguably inconsistent with the spelling “Wednesday.” ---
**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 22, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/108 "2010-11-22T21:32:59Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > In British film and TV productions, I’ve heard “Weddensday,” which is also arguably inconsistent with the spelling “Wednesday.” By coincidence, in the very moment that I was reading this post, the RTÉ TV weatherman clearly pronounced the /d/ in “Wednesday”. There was no identifiable vowel between the /d/ and the /n/ so it sounded something like “Wednzday”. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/109 "2010-11-23T02:42:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Cue-pon > Chube (tube) > Chuesday > Scottish 101. And Japanese! Chubes and sherbs (“shrubs”). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/110 "2010-11-23T05:09:23Z")
I’m a teacher, and I give my students SUCH a hard time about this. One of Today’s Disinfected Youth said yesterday: “Member how I aksed you last week…” “YOU! You’re the one who axed me! You’re admitting you axed me…” “Yeah, I aksed ya…” “See, I got hit by someone who randomly threw an axe in the hallway last week. And the cops said anyone stupid enough to AXE PEOPLE IN THE HALLWAY would probably slip up and confess, and they’ll come take 'em down.” “Oh, man… [collapses on desk giggling] …teachers so craaaaaazy…” ---
**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 23, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/111 "2010-11-23T15:30:47Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > So do consonant sounds. Take rhoticity for example. > > You’re saying the people who say ‘aks’ or ‘arks’ have a speech impediment? That they pronounce it like that because they can’t do it they way you’re prescribing it? That’s clearly very wrong. Also, in that case, I must have a speech impediment because I often have difficulty naturally rolling my 'r’s when speaking quickly in French. No, the reason for that difficulty is that it isn’t a (common?) phoneme in English, I have’n’t grown up hearing it, and the people I converse with do not regularly use it. If an entire social group of people pronounce something a certain way, they’re not doing it because of some sort of disability as you’re suggesting, they’re doing it because that’s how it’s done. That’s how language works, whatever sounds communicate what you mean in the best way are the ‘right’ ones to use. It is clearly the best way to use that word for certain groups of people. No, I recognize people may say “aks”. Maybe I should have said that if they insist on spelling it a-s-k then they are dyslexic. ---
**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 23, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177/112 "2010-11-23T15:52:15Z")
How precisely are they dyslexic? I think you’re still assuming that people pronounce ask as ‘aks’ out of ignorance, or because they have some sort of disability. It’s an interesting linguistic feature, and I may consider running a few informal field tests. But I think, anecdotally and through experience with people who use language like this, that they really do understand how the majority use the word ‘ask’. If you ask someone who is prone to saying ‘aks’ to say something very carefully and clearly, in a way that you would not speak to their friends, then they would use ‘ask’ in it’s most common form. Likewise, I have read essays by people who use a lot of casual talk like this when you speak with them, but they appear to fully understand that in writing and mainstream language there is a more ‘proper’ or widely accepted ‘standard’. It just seems to be a feature of casual speech. There’s lots more of them too, and they don’t necessarily indicate that the user has phonological awareness issues. Language is a huge part of cultural identity, I’m willing to bet it’s quite simply one more way of identifying with the specific social groups that speak like this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-people-pronounce-ask-as-aks/561177.md?page=5)