h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: RP - Received Pronunciation - A657560
Author: Spaceman Spiff (MP) - AggGag Ish 42 - Our Final Answer! Out now in The Post! - U185155


Hi all,

this was one of my first efforts at a proper guide entry, quite soon after i first got into h2g2. For a time it seemed destined for the English language project, but since that is on hold I put it through into the WW and it seems it is about ready for the rigours of PR.

I have tried to make it approachable for non-linguists, and there has been some debate about exactly what RP is...

I leave it with you. fill yer boots, guys 'n' gals, don't pull those punches!

cya
spiff

Oh, i should've said...

the WW thread is here: F79770"?thread=215272

and an older thread from back when i first wrote it: F79770

Jude Law - does he speak EE or RP?

Old Spice (who's Australian) thinks he's a posh boy. I think he sounds like an oik.

Is that deja-vu all over again?

Trout

If you want to hear 'oik as it should be spoken', just give me a call

I give the entry my Spiff

You can see that Estuary from where I was born.

Sorry, Spiff, I've not read the threads.

We used to call the type of English that the Queen speaks 'cut glass'. It might be nice to include it, perhaps.

The only other comment i have is a bit nit-picky - quite a bit of it is written in the third person and I wonder whether the third (or passive tense where appropriate) would be better? What do you think?

Spiff.

Since you're in PR, you can prob remove the "Article Under Construction" Header.

Trout

Spiff

There's an awful lot more of this stuff in Tom McArthur's "The Oxford Companion to the English Laguage", which I will try to read and relate to your Entry.

Thanks for the edg-oo-kay-shn.

Listen to that chorus of approval!

Let's get this into the EG as soon as possible!

Ah, good, well, all!

I'm glad i brought out of 'retirement', then.

Yeah, which one does Jude Law speak?

I'd lurve to tolk the woi he does. To sedyuce women, you kneuw.

Interesting this

Trevor McDonald has the best RP accent I think. It's clear but it's not forced.

Just one comment on the penultimate para - there seems to be a stray phrase "people who learnt English" in the middle of nowhere.

Also your comment about people learning English as a second language and picking up a regional accent made me think of Jan Molby, the ex-Liverpool footballer - he spoke (indeed, probably invented) Danish Scouse, probably the most unpleasant combination of accents I have ever heard.

That's the clearest example I can think off - otherwise you're right people with English as a second language generally either retain the accent of their own language, or graduate towards quite a 'posh' accent - my Girlfriend (French) pronounces some English phrases in a very RP way.

Jude Law- EE everytime. It sure as Hell ain't RP, that's for sure.

Trevor McDonald- Yes! Nice one sprout, he's a cracking example.

Just one point:

"RP refers exclusively to pronunciation, though it can be seen as analagous to Standard English (SE). "

I disagree. You can speak standard english with any accent, and say whatever you want in received pronunciation. The two are not analogous, they are sepearte entities, one referring to an accent and one to a dialect. Standard English is what you say, while Received Pronunciation is how you say it.

hi Egon,

i see what you mean and basically, i agree. in fact, i think (i hope) i say much the same thing in the entry.

what i meant to say in the phrase you mention is that RP is to accents what 'standard English' might be to dialects.

once again, i don't want to be sounding *too* sure of myself.

what do you think? is there another way to say what i mean?

is what i mean clear?

anyways, thanks for commenting

You could say that the two often occur together. it justs seemed to me from the phrasing you used that you were implying the two were one and the same.

These lines from the opening para is intended to make this point crystal clear:

"It is also true that meanings of words and grammatical forms can vary from one English-speaking country to another but this article is not about all the differences between the various forms of English. It is concerned solely with the standard pronunciation of British English. This is what linguists call Received Pronunciation (RP). RP refers exclusively to pronunciation, though it can be seen as analagous to Standard English (SE)."

how could this be clearer?

I just think that "can be seen as analagous to standard english" could mislead people.

Perhaps "although Rp refers exclusively to pronunciation, it is most often spoken by those who use the Standard english dialect" or something similar.

Feel free to ignore me by theway, i'm probably being unnecesarily nitpicky.

Nice one

I too think that RP and SE are not the same thing. I generally talk with no accent, but when I'm talking to people at work (all either Korean or German) I can get fairly RP when they are giving me the "what is she on about.. help help" look.

There is a newsreader on Radio 4 (hmmmm Peter Donlaldson) who has the most lovely accent, as near to RP as they get these days. Oh and Sue MacGregor would also be a good example I think.
And isn't there a really extreme example on the Archers (not Jennifer Aldridge, the other one... oh yes: Linda Snell)

Anyone who listens to Radio 4 regularly will no doubt have heard a good example of 'plummy' RP (as opposed to 'cut glass') in Anna Massey's narration on 'Sceptered Isle'.