Received Pronounciation

Received Pronunciation(Queen’s English, King’s English or Standard English)

In England, one accent has traditionally stood out above all others in its ability to convey associations of respectable social standing and a good education. This "prestige" accent is known as RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION, or RP.

Where do people speak "Received Pronunciation"?

"Received Pronunciation" s associated with the south-east, where most RP-speakers live or work, but it can be found anywhere in the country.

Who speak "Received Pronunciation"?

The Queen, the royal family, the government officers, the BBC announcers and the well-educated

The symbolic meaning of "Received Pronunciation"

Accents usually tell us where a person is from; RP tells us only about a person's social or educational background.

"Received Pronunciation" in the past

During the 19th century, it became the accent of public schools, such as Eton and Harrow, and was soon the main sign that a speaker had received a good education. It spread rapidly throughout the Civil Service of the British Empire and the armed forces, and became the voice of authority and power. Because it was a regionally 'neutral' accent, and was thought to be more widely understood than any regional accent, it came to adopted by the BBC, when radio broadcasting began in the 1920s. During WW2, it became linked in many minds with the voice of freedom, and the notion of a "BBC pronunciation" grew.

"Received Pronunciation" today

Today, with the breakdown of rigid divisions between social classes and the development of the mass media, RP is no longer the preserve of a social elite. It is best described as an "educated" accent - though "accents" would be more precise, for there are several varieties. The most widely used is that generally heard on the BBC; but there are also conservative and trend-setting forms. The former is found in many older establishment speakers. The latter is usually associated with certain social and professional groups - in particular, the voice of the London upwardly mobile ("the Sloane Rangers") in the 1980s.

Early BBC recordings show how much RP has altered over just a few decades, and they point that no acccent is immune to change, not even 'the best'. But the most important observation is that RP is no longer as widely used today as it was 50 years ago. It is still the standard accent of the Royal Family, Parliament, the Church of England, the High Courts, and other national institutions; but less than 3 per cent of the British people speak it in a pure form now. Most educated people have developed an accent which is a mixture of RP and various regional characteristics -'modified RP', some call it.

Nonetheless RP continues to retain considerable status. It has long been the chief accent taught to

foreigners who wish to learn a British model, and is thus widely used abroad (by far more peole, in fact, than have it as a mother-tongue accent in the UK.)

Tips for British English learners

Aslong as your accent is clear, it doesn’t matter if you don’t sound like traditional R P.

You can copy the voice of the BBC announcers’ to learn "Received Pronunciation"