Re: RP - what a Rehearsal in Pretension !

From: Mike Henley (mnhenley_at_msn.com)
Date: 09/05/04 

Date: 5 Sep 2004 14:08:34 -0700

Mark Barratt <mark.barratt@enternet.hu> wrote in message news:<2q0j33FougfnU1@uni-berlin.de>...

>
> [cross-posted to sci.lang]
> This post touches upon something which has bothered me for some time,
> namely the definition of "RP" (that's "Received Pronunciation", in case
> anyone doesn't know).
>
> In the course of making a change in my profession recently (yes, I have
> to hang my head and admit to having become an EFL teacher) I've read a
> number of English linguistics/language works, and I find an
> inconsistency in the usage of this term.
>
> When I first encountered the description "RP", it was described as the
> "prestige" accent spoken by the royal family and by others who would
> generally be described as "posh", even in southern England. Whilst
> speakers of northern English often refer to any southern accent as
> "posh", there is a marked difference between this "aristocratic" accent
> and what is perhaps better described as "Standard Southern English"
> (SSE). The realization of the /&/ phoneme that Mike Henley complains
> about is perhaps the most noticeable of these differences.
>
> RP, in early descriptions, is often equated with "BBC English" and I
> think that this was indeed what the BBC looked for in its announcers up
> until about the 60s. If "BBC English" means anything today, however, I
> would say that it means SSE, not RP.
>
> What is confusing is that some writers appear to use the appellation
> "RP" to refer to SSE.

They do indeed.

>
> Isn't it about time that we junked this confusing term?
>
> Aside, there is an old joke which nicely illustrates the difference
> between the pronunciation of /&/ in RP and other English English
> accents. It runs: "That girl is so well brought up that she thinks that
> sex is what the coal gets delivered in".

Perhaps I need to be more specific.

Speaking of English English, or British English, take someone famous
for example; Tony Blair, (or Jack Straw) I have no issue whatsoever
with his accent or intonation and in fact I like it; it's a
no-nonsense accent. In fact, I have aboslutely no problem with the
accent of the queen, and I do like it too. An example of the "proper"
accent I don't like at all is the Monty Python accent, and no, I know
it's a comical show, but I assure you their accents are real or there
are real people who talk exactly like that, and it's quite bad that
such accent should/could be considered "proper"