eceived Pronunciation (RP), also called the Queen's (or King's) English,[1] Oxford English,[2] or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England,[3] with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms.[4] Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors give Received Pronunciation particular prestige in England and Wales.[5] However, since World War II, a greater permissiveness towards allowing regional English varieties has taken hold in education[6] and in the media in England.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Usage
3 Status
4 Phonology
4.1 Consonants
4.2 Vowels
5 Historical variation
6 Comparison with other varieties of English
7 See also
8 Audio files
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links
[edit]History
The introduction of the term Received Pronunciation is usually credited to Daniel Jones after his comment in 1917 "In what follows I call it Received Pronunciation (abbreviation RP), for want of a better term."[7] However, the expression had actually been used much earlier by Alexander Ellis in 1869[8] and Peter DuPonceau in 1818[9] (the term used by Henry C. K. Wyld in 1927 was "received standard"[10]). According to Fowler's Modern English Usage (1965), the correct term is "the Received Pronunciation". The word received conveys its original meaning of accepted or approved ? as in "received wisdom".[11] The reference to this pronunciation as Oxford English is because it was traditionally the common speech of Oxford University; the production of dictionaries gave Oxford University prestige in matters of language. The extended versions of the Oxford English Dictionary give Received Pronunciation guidelines for each word.
RP is an accent (a form of pronunciation) and a register, rather than a dialect (a form of vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation).[citation needed] It may show a great deal about the social and educational background of a person who uses English. Anyone using the RP will typically speak Standard English although the reverse is not necessarily true (e.g. the standard language may be pronounced with a regional accent, such as a Yorkshire accent; but it is very unlikely that someone speaking RP would use it to speak Scots or Geordie).
RP is often believed to be based on the Southern accents of England, but in fact it has most in common with the Early Modern English dialects of the East Midlands. This was the most populated and most prosperous area of England during the 14th and 15th centuries. By the end of the 15th century, "Standard English" was established in the City of London.[12] A mixture of London speech with elements from East Midlands, Middlesex and Essex, became known as RP.[13]
[edit]Usage
Researchers generally distinguish between three different forms of RP: Conservative, General, and Advanced. Conservative RP refers to a traditional accent associated with older speakers with certain social backgrounds; General RP is often considered neutral regarding age, occupation, or lifestyle of the speaker; and Advanced RP refers to speech of a younger generation of British speakers.[14]
The modern style of RP is an accent often taught to non-native speakers learning British English[15]. Non-RP Britons abroad may modify their pronunciation to something closer to Received Pronunciation in order to be understood better by people unfamiliar with British regional accents. They may also modify their vocabulary and grammar to be closer to Standard English, for the same reason. RP is often used as the standard for English in most books on general phonology and phonetics and is represented in the pronunciation schemes of most dictionaries published in the United Kingdom.[clarification needed]
[edit]Status
Traditionally, Received Pronunciation was the "everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons whose men-folk [had] been educated at the great public boarding-schools"[16] and which conveyed no information about that speaker's region of origin prior to attending the school.
It is the business of educated people to speak so that no-one may be able to tell in what county their childhood was passed.
A. Burrell, Recitation. A Handbook for Teachers in Public Elementary School, 1891.
In the 19th century, there were still British prime ministers who spoke with some regional features, such as William Ewart Gladstone.[17]
From the 1970s onwards, attitudes towards Received Pronunciation have been changing slowly. The BBC's use of announcers with strong regional accents during and after World War II (in order to distinguish BBC broadcasts from German propaganda) is an earlier example of the use of non-RP accents.[citation needed]
[edit]Phonology