David Crystal has published an article on the received pronunciation on the Cambridge ELT blog.
Anyone who has heard the Queen’s speeches will recognise her distinctive British accent. This is RP – ‘Received Pronunciation’. This year, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service. So it seems like a fitting time to have a little look at the history of RP and its place in British society today.
It can surprise people to learn that Received Pronunciation is a relatively recent arrival on the British accent scene. Surely this way of speaking – often viewed as prestigious due to its associations with the Royal Family, the British establishment, and the BBC – has been there since English began? Not so. For the first thousand years of English in Britain, there was no such thing as a ‘standard’ accent. People spoke in different ways, reflecting their regional backgrounds, regardless of their level of education or social class.
In Shakespeare’s day, having a broad regional accent didn’t stop you from becoming powerful in the kingdom. As shown by famous explorers Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, both said to have had strong Devonshire (South West) accents. Indeed, you could become king with a regional accent. As happened in 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, Scottish accents echoed through the corridors of power. Continue reading →