There's a consensus amongst linguists that there is a definite North-South divide in the pronunciation of the "a" vowel. The dividing line is called an isogloss and is epitomised by something called the Bath-Trap split. In old English it's believed that everyone used the trap pronunciation exclusively, but gradually an extended vowel crept in so you get pronunciations like bahth or ahsk. It probably started off in London a couple of hundred years ago, but it's definitely spread across the whole of the south of England. Like all such "rules" there are exceptions, so maybe you're one of them, but I know a number of people from Brighton who all use that pronunciation. Obviously there are further variations, and a traditional Cockney accent might sound more exaggerated to your ear, but I bet you and I would have a different pronunciation of words like bath, laugh, giraffe etc. RP uses the long vowel as well.
Nah it’s not that. The bath/grass north south split thing is fine. And I’m sure it’s prob same with arsk and ask. but this is people that say arks. They put the k before the s…. Just realised I didn’t explain it well in my original post at all
Ah - the aks thing. Yeah, that is weird, but you can get that in the north as well. Oddly enough I saw something not so long ago that explained the origin of that. It made such an impression on me that I can't remember it. I think it was perhaps common in Middle English.
An open mind is one that is open to reason or evidence, not one that is suggestible to any wild unsupported assertion. If I said the Red Sea was actually tomato soup with a hint of basil would you think "Hmmm, he may have a point there"?
Thanks guys - will be working in Manhattan, and hopefully living near by! Any recommendations would be appreciated!
