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Teacher and artist has been posting on social media about 鈥渓inguicism鈥� after a reader asked him about the word 鈥渁x鈥�, saying: 鈥淲hy did we struggle saying 鈥榓sk鈥�? Like when I was little, I always said 鈥榓x鈥�. Like I couldn鈥檛 say the word correctly.鈥�

惭'颁丑别补耻虫鈥檚 counters the common idea that 鈥渁x鈥� (spelled also 鈥渁ks鈥�) is incorrect: 鈥渁x鈥� isn鈥檛 a mispronunciation of 鈥渁sk鈥� but an alternative pronunciation. This is similar to how people might pronounce 鈥渆conomics鈥� variously as 鈥渆ck-onomics鈥� or 鈥渆ek-onomics鈥�, for example. Neither of these pronunciations is wrong. They鈥檙e just different.

Linguicism is an idea invented by human-rights activist and linguist to describe discrimination based on language or dialect. The prejudice around 鈥渁ks鈥� is an example of linguicism.

shows that the idea that any variation from is incorrect (or, worse, unprofessional or uneducated) is a smokescreen for prejudice. Linguicism can have serious consequences by worsening existing socio-economic and racial inequalities.

Flawed argument

Pegging 鈥渁x鈥� as a mark of laziness or ignorance presumes that saying 鈥渁ks鈥� is easier than saying 鈥渁sk鈥�. If this were the case, we would 鈥� and we never do 鈥� hear 鈥渄esk鈥�, 鈥渇lask鈥� and 鈥減esky鈥� pronounced 鈥渄eks鈥�, 鈥渇laks鈥� and 鈥減eksy鈥�.

The 鈥渟鈥� and 鈥渒鈥� being interchanged in 鈥渁ks鈥� and 鈥渁sk鈥� is an instance of what linguists call 鈥� a process which is very common. For example, wasp used to be pronounced 鈥溾�� but the former has now become the go-to word. Many of the pronunciations bemoaned as 鈥渨rong鈥� are in fact just examples of .

鈥淎ks鈥� has origins in Old English and Germanic over a millennium ago, when it was a formal written form. In the first English Bible 鈥� the Coverdale Bible, from 1535 鈥� Matthew 7:7 was written as 鈥淎xe and it shall be given you鈥�, with royal approval.

Beyond written English, 鈥渁ks鈥� was also the typical pronunciation in England鈥檚 south and in the Midlands. 鈥淎sk鈥�, meanwhile, was more prevalent in the north and it is the latter that became the standard pronunciation.

Contemporary prevalence

In North America, 鈥渁ks鈥� (or 鈥渁x鈥�) was widely used in New England and the southern and middle states. In the late 19th century, however, it became stereotyped as exclusive to African American English, in which it remains prevalent. American linguist John McWhorter it an 鈥渋ntegral part of being a black American鈥�.

Today, 鈥渁ks鈥� is also found in UK varieties of English, including . This dialect, spoken mainly by people from ethnic minority backgrounds, came about through contact between different dialects of English and immigrant languages, including , such as Jamaican Creole.

Multicultural London English was initially referred to in the media as 鈥�Jafaican鈥�. That label wrongly reduced the dialect to something imitated or used inauthentically.

Other languages have, of course, influenced Multicultural London English. But the English language has been in a constant state of flux for millennia, precisely as a result of with other languages. When we talk about 鈥渟alad鈥�, 鈥渂eef鈥� or the 鈥済overnment鈥� we are not imitating French, despite the French origin of these words. They have simply become English words. In the same way, Multicultural London English is a fully formed dialect in its own right and 鈥渁ks鈥�, as with any other pronunciation in this and other English dialects, is in no way wrong.

Linguistic prejudice

Accents or dialects have no logical or scientific claim to 鈥渃orrectness鈥�. Instead, any prestige of which they might boast derives from being spoken by high-status groups.

Many people now wag their finger at the word 鈥渁in鈥檛鈥� or at people dropping the 鈥済鈥�, rendering words like 鈥渞unning鈥� as 鈥渞unnin鈥欌��, and 鈥渏umping鈥� as 鈥渏umpin鈥欌��. In, 2020, British home secretary Priti Patel of this mistaken criticism, when journalist Alastair Campbell tweeted, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want a Home Secretary who can鈥檛 pronounce a G at the end of a word.鈥�

Criticisms of 鈥渄ropping g鈥� exist despite the pronunciation鈥檚 origins in Middle English, and not to mention the fact that well into the 20th century, the British upper classes spoke in this way too. This was satirised in a 2003 episode of the British comedy show Absolutely Fabulous, entitled .

Now that 鈥渄ropping g鈥� is stereotyped as working class, however, it is stigmatised as wrong. that linguistic prejudices, however unintentional, against immigrant, non-standard and regional dialects have held back generations of children from achieving their best in school and, of course, beyond it.

Schoolchildren who naturally say 鈥渁ks鈥� (or any other non-standard form of English) are tasked with the extra burden of distinguishing between how they speak and how they are to write. Conversely, no such barrier is faced by children who grow up speaking standard English at home, which can further entrench inequality. These children are already advantaged in other ways as they tend to come from high-status groups.

The way we speak has real implications in how we are perceived. in south-east England found that young adults from working-class or from ethnic minority backgrounds tend to be judged as than others 鈥� a prejudice based solely on the way they spoke. The effect was worsened if the person was from 糖心Vlog or London, or even if they were thought to have an accent from these places.

The example of 鈥渁ks鈥� neatly demonstrates the absurdity, the baselessness and, crucially, the pernicious impact of deeming any one form of English to be 鈥渃orrect鈥�. Accent prejudice and linguicism is a reframing of prejudice towards low-status groups who, simply, speak differently.

, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Institute for Analytics and Data Science) Department of Language and Linguistics, ; , Lecturer in linguistics, , and , Professor Emeritus of Linguistics,

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