When did Aunt become Ont ?

[One Shot]

I know this will get twisted all out of order but just wonder why most black people say ont instead of aunt. Is it a trend? I know there have been all types of words over the years but this one seems to be the latest. Any honest answers or thoughts???

[jcole]

From dictionary.com

The usual vowel of aunt in the United States is the [a] Show IPA of rant except in New England and eastern Virginia, where it is commonly the “New England broad a, ” a vowel similar to French [a] and having a quality between the [a] of hat and the [ah] of car. The vowel [ah] itself is also used. In New England and eastern Virginia [ah] or the [a]-like sound occur in aunt in the speech of all social groups, even where a “broad a ” is not used in words like dance and laugh. Elsewhere, the “broader” a is chiefly an educated pronunciation, fostered by the schools with only partial success [[“Your relative isn't an insect, is she?”), and is sometimes regarded as an affectation. Aunt with the vowel of paint is chiefly South Midland United States and is limited to folk speech. The [a] pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the [ah] in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, [ah] is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the [ah] pronunciation developed there in these words.

[Pam]

I know this will get twisted all out of order but just wonder why most black people say ont instead of aunt. Is it a trend? I know there have been all types of words over the years but this one seems to be the latest. Any honest answers or thoughts???

Not something new, not a trend. I always assumed it had something to do with most black people coming from the South.

[oldredfordette]

All of my cousins from Ohio say Ont and they're alabaster white.

[NormanPaperman]

I am a Detroit expat, I now live in the deep South, Rural South Carolina, here, it is Ont, or more commonly, Ontie. . .as far as I know, always has been.

[Meddle]

I always said "Aunt", but a lot of people I went to school with in Detroit said 'Montie' or something close which was an adaptation of "My Auntie".

[Johnlodge]

It's better than "mee maw" for grandma. I worked with a woman who said that all the time. I guess her family was from Kentucky, but I don't think she ever lived there herself. Er, she was white, for those keeping track.

[One Shot]

Well how bout a little fun and bring up some other words that have been "modified" over the years. Are there any words that white people use that make the black people chuckle?
AGAIN this is a good natured post!

[NormanPaperman]

Gotta bring up the versital. . .y'all.

[Meddle]

In the spirit of understanding, can somebody explain 'axed' in place of 'asked'? Is it just the linguistic inability of some to pronounce it right? I know some Asians have trouble with 'r' and 'l' and some east Europeans have trouble with 'w' and 'v'.

[GOAT]

^^ "Axed" is just an undecuated person trying to speak speak^^.
Also it is street cred lingo, also known as slang. I see no linguistic inability when saying "asked". Only an educated fool would continue to speak so stupidly.

[Maof]

It's better than "mee maw" for grandma. I worked with a woman who said that all the time. I guess her family was from Kentucky, but I don't think she ever lived there herself. Er, she was white, for those keeping track.

both my kids called my mom "mee maw" when they were just starting to talk. eventually, it turned into grandma. same thing with my sister's grandkids. i guess the "g" is hard for them to pronouce.

[sumas]

Isn't the French word for Aunt is Tante? Creole influence?

[jcole]

From my post above:

In American English, [ah] is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the [ah] pronunciation developed there in these words.

[Jimaz]

Growing up all over the country, I've always pronounced "aunt" to rhyme with "ant." I've heard it pronounced "ont" by a [[white) guy from New England. It sounded pretentious probably because I'd heard it pronounced "ont" by Brits. Note the "au" in "caught" and similar words have a similar short "o" sound.

[Jimaz]

I recall hearing that the "aks" pronunciation of "ask" had been traced back to some specific region of Africa where there was a common linguistic rule that no word [[or maybe syllable) ever ended in a hard "k" sound. Google results for this were too diluted with other theories so, sorry, no linky for the thinky.

[East Detroit]

Yow loveris, axe I now this questioun.

The common explanation for the metathesis in question in AAVE discussion is that it is due to one social group claiming "ask" and the other claiming "aks" as the pronunciations evolved from similar roots during Medieval times.

[East Detroit]

Dinosour vs Dinosore [[dinosaur)

Double you vs Double ya [[w)

Which is correct? Even the prescriptive definitions evolve [[hence you know a language isn't dead, as is Latin).

[Jimaz]

Some more about the ancestry of the "W" at DetroitYES Forums > Discuss Detroit > Banner pic of marker- The V nited States of America???

[Bobl]

"Aunt/ont", "ask/ax", "dragged/drug", "going to/fixin' to", "soda/pop/coke".... American English is an evolving language, as Sarah Palin and others have recently demonstrated.

[LodgeDodger]

In the spirit of understanding, can somebody explain 'axed' in place of 'asked'? Is it just the linguistic inability of some to pronounce it right? I know some Asians have trouble with 'r' and 'l' and some east Europeans have trouble with 'w' and 'v'.

How about 'fitty', instead of fifty...

[NormanPaperman]

An annoying one. . .cent, instead of cents. . ."I got fitty cent"

[Crystal]

Referring to printing a document, people now seem to say they're going to print it "off". I don't believe I ever heard that until a few years ago. It always used to be print "out" or just print.

I have an entire subset of relatives who say they "seen" something instead of "saw" something, but that might be more of an error than evolution.

I miss the "words and phrases to eliminate" thread.

[Ray1936]

A little zebra died and went to heaven. He met St. Peter at the pearly gates. One question he always wondered about, he thought, could probably be answered by St. Peter.

"St. Pete, am I white or am I black?"

St. Peter rubbed his long, white beard, and finally, puzzled, replied, "I don't know. But God is right over there; why don't you go and ask him?"

So off trotted the little zebra to see God.

After a few minutes, he returned to St. Peter, and St. Pete said, "Well, what did he say?"

The little zebra was puzzled. He said, "I don't really know. He said, "You are what you are.""

"Oh!" said St. Peter. "Well, then, you're white!"

"How do you figure that?" asked the zebra, quite confused.

"Well, " said St. Pete, "If you were black, he would have said, "You is what you is.""

[English]

To my ears, pronouncing aunt as "ant" sounds wrong and weird. But I've never begun a thread asking why white people do or say certain things, either.

Whenever people talk about language, it simply reveals their own language predilections and prejudices. Some of those who criticize Black English, Appalachian English, or one of the Southern dialects the most engage in lapses of grammar or dialect. I silenced one of my doctoral seminars @ Michigan by pointing out that certain groups love to transcribe the speech of people of color and poor folks phonetically -- but their own speech, if accurately transcribed, isn't exactly standard, either. Pot, meet kettle.