[ExI] Aks/was Re: time for a new word?

[Dan]

--- On Tue, 4/28/09, Joseph Bloch <seculartranshumanist at gmail.com> wrote:
> Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > In THE WHITE ACABUS (1997) I introduced "aksed" which
> immediately took
> > flight like a... dead auk. I still think it nicely
> combines the common
> > solecism for "asked" and the implied root term
> "access".
> 
> Maybe because many people actually (and erroneously)
> pronounce the
> word "asked" as "aksed"?

Whether it's erroneous depends...  It's a metathesis -- change in the order of sounds in a word -- which happens often enough in language.  Also, I've read that there was an AngloSaxon word pronounced "aksee-en" (not sure of the stresses) that meant "to ask."

Should we complain -- as long as we understand what's meant?  (Of course, depending on audience, one might prefer to use one pronunciation over another.)

Of course, there's a big difference, in my view, between this sort of spontaneous language change and someone cooking up a new word.  The latter is usually unsuccessful -- if success is measure by the neologism catching on, no?

Regards,

Dan