Problems with pronunciation

Re “Just don’t ‘ax,’ ’’ Opinion, Jan 19

Nitpicking linguists are boring.

In the case of professor John McWhorter, he is also wrong. The reality is that “ax” versus “ask” and other idiomatic faux pas have nothing to do with ethnicity.

Two far more damaging problems are responsible: poor elementary school education and the excessively high costs of higher education.

Children of educated parents, regardless of their ethnicity, are likely to avoid these linguistic problems that will surely beset the children of poorly educated parents.

Impossible-to-afford costs for higher education perpetuates the economic class system that besets our nation right now.

If you do not wish to condemn children to say “ax” rather than “ask,” we as a nation should immediately give to qualified students free college and university education, as is done in most other countries of the world.

Anthony Altieri

Toluca Lake Please, spare me. I grew up in a little town in south Jersey where “creek” was pronounced “crick,” “dentist” was pronounced “dennist” and “Washington” was “Warshington.”

I stopped using childhood pronunciations decades ago — although sometimes I do say “wooder” for “water.”

Mary Anne Vincent

Corona

McWhorter’s analysis on “ask” as “ax” is the standard position formulated by linguists who defend misusage: claiming there is no such thing and then establishing their argument by referring to Chaucer’s usage of about 600 years ago.

Would we countenance the pronunciation of “shewen” for “show” because that is how Chaucer transcribed it?

Giuseppe Mirelli

Los Angeles