Accents Flashcards
RP (received pronunciation)
The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as being a ‘standard accent’ of Southern England.
Spoken by the King
Phonological features of RP
- Use of the trap/bath split – the long a (/a:/) in words like ‘bath’.
- H-retention – /h/ is always pronounced in initial positioning in words like ‘house’.
- Non-rhoticity – Not pronouncing the /r/ at the end of words like ‘mother’.
- Conservative vowels – sounds like they ‘ought to’.
- Yod-coalescence – includes the /j/ (pronouned ‘y’) sound in words like ‘rain’, ‘Spain’ and ‘Tuesday’.
Shibboleths
We call these features shibboleths which means they are a feature of a group.
In this case, they are features of the RP accent.
Ways of looking at RP
- RP is prescriptivist (prescriptivism is all about there being right and wrong uses of English.
- Prescriptivists believe we should promote the right uses and shun the wrong uses) – it is associated with Standard English (SE).
- RP carries overt prestige (a very open form of status) – it has high status due to association with ‘The Establishment’ and is labelled ‘The Queen’s English
- RP is universally recognised – it is the most widely recognised ‘English’ by foreigners.
Ways of looking at RP (negaive)
- RP is an artificial construct – it doesn’t offer any clues about background (and so is regionless).
- RP is outdated – only about 2% of the population use it.
One of the easiest ways to map dialectal variations
is to look at what names people give to things.
E.g. The bread in the picture can be called a bread roll, barm cake, bap, cob, roll, or bun.
What percentage of the British population uses RP?
2%
What is RP associated with?
Authority and power
What evidence suggests RP has less power today?
RP was once known as BBC English; reporters were asked to remove regional features in the 1920s. In 2008, Thompson called for more regional accents to end RP’s dominance after complaints were ignored.
What is an accent?
How you sound depending on where you’re from.
How do dominant groups in society seek to win the consent of subordinate groups?
Hegemony - through enforcing standardisation.
