Just thought I should point out (though I find it unusual that you wouldn't know this, considering your "doctorate in languages") that "aks" was actually the original pronunciation of what is now accepted as "ask".
The
word "ask" originally came from the
word "acsian". By the
time people settled North America in the 1400's though, the
word had been shortened to "aks". Like with many words (especially those combining the "s" and "c" sounds) metathesis occured, and some
people began to pronounce the word as "ask".
Because of animosity between the North and the South, the North started consistently pronouncing it as "ask" and put pressure on the public school system to have it taught that way as well. "Aks" became stigmatized as the "souther/uneducated" pronunciation, though at this point had
yet to be associated with African Americans.
Ultimately, under pressure fromthe North, all public schools(
PS) adopted that pronunciation. Because african americans were not allowed access to
PS at that
time, they continued to learn that it was pronounced as "ask".
It's less a matter of "ebonics" as it is your lack of historical knowledge. Get educated love :)
In reference to the use of "
aks" as an example of the controversial term "ebonics",
AKS and ASK were for a long
time both accepted ways to pronounce what is now most widely accepted as "Ask"
