The colloquial pronunciation of "asked the question"

Status
Not open for further replies.

sitifan

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
The colloquial pronunciation of "asked the question" sounds like "ass the question," doesn't it?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Answered here.

You've been a member long enough to know that

"We recommend posting a question on one forum only initially. If you do not get a satisfactory answer from that forum and you feel that you have exhausted its possibilities, then of course trying a different forum might help. It is only courteous however, to tell the second forum that you have already asked the question on another forum and then give a precis of the answers you received there, or provide a link to it, along with an explanation of why you are now looking elsewhere."
(emsr2d2)
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
A girl in an eighth-grade class with me became extremely embarrassed and flustered when, reading "Jack asked" aloud from a book the class was reading, she said "Jack-assed". This pronunciation is dominant in my region. "Axed" is also common.
 

Glizdka

Key Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2019
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
"Jack axed Sally" sounds gruesome.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Nevertheless, "ax" as an alternative to "ask" is attested for no less than 1,200 years.
 

Charlie Bernstein

VIP Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
The colloquial pronunciation of "asked the question" sounds like "ass the question," doesn't it?
Only sometimes.

In the US, it's pronounced different ways. Most common are:

- askt (That's the one you should use.)
- akst
- ast
 

sitifan

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
In the US, it's pronounced different ways. Most common are:
- askt (That's the one you should use.)
- akst
- ast
Topic: Omission of /t/ in spoken American English. Level: intermediate to advanced.
https://youtu.be/xnXx0SvW2AU?t=444
If "asked" sometimes sounds like "ast," then "asked the question" sometimes sounds like "as(t) the question," doesn't it?
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If "asked" sometimes sounds like "ast," then "asked the question" sometimes sounds like "as(t) the question," doesn't it?
Possibly, but they're different situations. "Asked" is hard for Anglophones to say because of its unusual (for English) consonant cluster. Dropping the /k/ is one way to make it easier. "Ask the" is a little awkward but less so; still, the same solution is possible. I generally soften the /k/ to a glottal stop which is probably barely perceptible. In more rapid or casual speech I drop it altogether.
 

Charlie Bernstein

VIP Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
"d" "t" "k" cancellation (English sound cancellation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzyD0ByZYMs

Do you agree with what he teaches in the video?
Pretty much. I've never noticed anyone drop the D from colder, but maybe it happens.

As for the K, the student might be confused by words that are written with a silent K, like know and knight. Pronouncing those Ks would be wrong.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
This thread is from February. At no point has Sitifan acknowledged either here or on WR that he/she is asking the same question on two forums. I am closing this thread.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top