Hi there. I'm going to be talking to you today
about Received Pronunciation, often shortened to "RP", which is an accent of Great Britain,
probably most widely taught as the accent that you're meant to learn in language schools
around the world. So I'm going to be talking about the relevance, the place of RP who
actually speaks with an RP accent in Britain. Okay, so RP is defined as the regionally neutral
middle-class accent of England. Regionally neutral. What that means is by hearing this
accent I don't know where in the UK the speaker is from. So they might be from Devon, Wales,
London, Yorkshire, anywhere. This accent is not from a particular place. Now, it has also
been called over the last 50-100 years the Queen's English because people assume that the
Queen speaks with Received Pronunciation. She actually doesn't. The Queen speaks in a
very unique accent, which differs from Received Pronunciation. She has a very smart accent.
It's not quite the same. BBC English, yes there did used to be a time
when most of the news presenters on the BBC were required to have a Received Pronunciation
accent, but now society has changed and it is more inclusive, so people from different
parts of the United Kingdom, people who have gone to less privileged schools are able to
get jobs in the BBC and all other sectors and industries. It's also referred to as Oxford English. So
there was a time 30-40 years ago when all the professors at Oxford and when all the
students at Oxford and Cambridge would speak with RP. But again, that's changed and there
is a drive in schools to try and get the best school... The best students from the government
schools into these top universities. What is it, Benjamin? It's an accent. Okay?
It's used with Standard English. So if someone is using a lot of slang, a lot of abbreviation,
mixing where their words are from, from rap music and stuff, that wouldn't be Standard
English. It avoids slang and dialect. Dialect is the language particular to a certain place.
For example, a West Country dialect would be particular words
from that place. This accent reveals, shows someone's background.
Okay? So it shows what kind of life they have had so far. It doesn't show where they are
from in the United Kingdom. In fact, only 2 to 3% of the UK population have this accent.
You might be wondering: "Do you have this accent, Benjamin?" and the answer to that
is: To some degree, but not entirely. So my accent has influences from some Estuary English,
and it sort of depends who I am speaking to as to how... How my accent is placed. I'm
from Devon and sometimes I will veer towards a Devonian sound, but most of the time I will
sound like someone from the southeast of England because that is where
I have lived most. So, a history of this accent. In the... Up until
the 20th century this accent was associated with wealth and power, but then after World
War II society changed in the United Kingdom. We had a Labour Government for the first time,
the NHS was created, and people started getting different types of jobs. They started getting
better jobs, you started getting a mix of people. And with that, regional accents have
become more important. In fact, some people like to disguise an RP accent, so they'll
start trying to speak a little bit like this, and start dropping their t's, and say: "Lil"
and "innit" and stuff. I'm exaggerating, but it does have negative connotations, the RP
accent so some people try to change their voice to fit in. Still not sure what it is? Well, it's speaking
in clipped, precise tones. Okay? It sounds quite a sort of serious accent. Maybe some
people feel that it sounds quite cold. How has it evolved? It's not the same accent,
Received Pronunciation, that it was a hundred years ago. Okay? The accent changes, just
as an accent from Yorkshire, or from Wales, and Ireland will change over time.
It's not a fixed: This is the accent. How it's been changed recently? The long vowel
sounds have become shortened. Why is that? To... As a feeling of self-protection. You
don't want to expose yourself by speaking in this ridiculous manner. So, a diphthong
which is a double vowel sound, for example: "poo-er" would now be pronounced: "poor". A
poor person rather than a poo-er person. "Come here" rather than: "Come heeere", "here",
"here". Okay? So these diphthongs are being shortened. It's now a flatter
accent in its pronunciation. Who speaks with an RP accent? Prince Charles
with a traditional RP accent, an old-fashioned one. His daughter-in-law, Kate, the Duchess
of Cambridge. Whereas... So she has come from a different background to her husband, Prince
William, but she's really taken on this sort of traditional accent in the way she speaks,
whereas William, and... Prince William and Prince Harry who come from the most privileged
backgrounds slightly disguise the way they speak by flattening some of their vowel sounds.
You'll also hear this accent from Jeremy Paxman who is wonderful to listen to, a highly-intelligent
man; Joanna Lumley, another wonderful TV presenter who makes fascinating travel documentaries;
and Boris Johnson, make of him what you will. So, how do we know...? I just want to give you
a couple more examples of these diphthongs so you can start to tell whether it's a modern
RP accent or an old one. Remember the old one takes that double vowel sound. So if you
ask for a glass of beer, that would be modern, whereas the old-fashioned would be a "be-er,
"be-er, please". If something is near, near. Is it near? Is the shop near? Okay? That's
the modern sound. "Nee-uh", "Is it Nee-uh?" Okay? It's a slightly more formal sound. It's
more sort of, I don't know, up to you how you find it. If something is "eweld", "eweld",
okay, that's the traditional way, as opposed to if something is "old". So it's
more natural, the modern way. So, let's put this accent in its place. Yeah?
Remember 2% of the United Kingdom. Most people speak more with the regional accent. Okay?
The north of England, the Midlands, and it has very much become a part... An accent of
England. You go to Wales, you go to Scotland, you go to Ireland - you're not going to hear
RP. People take more pride in their accent from where they are from. I hope this has been informative for you.
So why not now start watching some British television? Can you start to place...? Can
you hear this accent at all? How are people talking, and what does it show about them?
Thank you. See you next time.
