View source for Received Pronunciation

{{Short description|Standard accent for British English}}
{{redirect|The Queen's English|the LGBTQ dictionary|The Queens' English{{!}}''The Queens' English''}}
{{Use British English|date = June 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{IPA notice}}

'''Received Pronunciation''' ('''RP''') is the [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]] of [[British English]] regarded as the [[Standard language|standard]] one, carrying the highest [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|social prestige]], since as late as the beginning of the 20th century.{{sfnp|Wells|2008|p=xix, paragraph 2.1}}<ref name=":0" /> It is also commonly referred to as the '''Queen's English''' or '''King's English'''. The study of RP is concerned only with matters of pronunciation, while other features of [[standard British English]], such as [[vocabulary]], [[grammar]], and [[Style (sociolinguistics)|style]], are not considered.

Language scholars have long disagreed on RP's exact definition, how geographically neutral it is, how many speakers there are, the nature and classification of its sub-varieties, how appropriate a choice it is as a standard, how the accent has changed over time, and even its name.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=74–81}} Furthermore, RP has changed to such a degree over the last century that many of its early 20th-century traditions of transcription and analysis have become outdated or are no longer considered [[Evidence-based practice|evidence-based]] by [[Linguistics|linguists]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lindsey |first1=Geoff |title=English after RP: standard British pronunciation today |last2=Wells |first2=John C. |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-04356-8 |location=Cham, Switzerland}}</ref> '''Standard Southern British English''' ('''SSBE''') is a label some linguists use for the variety that gradually evolved from RP in the late 20th century and replaced it as the commonplace standard variety of [[Southern England]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 October 2023 |title=English accents have changed so much that two big ones are brown bread |url=https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/31/english-accents-have-changed-so-much-that-two-big-ones-are-brown-bread-19749653/ |access-date=25 January 2025 |website=Metro}}</ref> while others now simply use SSBE and RP as [[synonym]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 January 2025 |title=Brits still associate working-class accents with criminal behaviour – study warns of bias in the criminal justice system {{!}} University of Cambridge |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/brits-still-associate-working-class-accents-with-criminal-behaviour-study-warns-of-bias-in-the |access-date=25 January 2025 |website=www.cam.ac.uk}}</ref> Still, the older traditions of RP analysis continue to be commonly taught and used, for instance in [[language education]] and [[comparative linguistics]], and RP remains a popular [[umbrella term]] in British society.

==History==
In the first edition of the British phonetician [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]]'s ''[[English Pronouncing Dictionary]]'' (1917), he named the accent "[[Public school (United Kingdom)|Public School]] Pronunciation"; for the second edition in 1926 he wrote: "In what follows I call it Received Pronunciation, for want of a better term".{{sfnp|Jones|1926|p=ix}} However, the term had been used much earlier by [[Peter Stephen Du Ponceau|P. S. Du Ponceau]] in 1818{{sfnp|DuPonceau|1818|p=259}} and the Oxford English Dictionary cites quotations back to about 1710.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/272029 |website=Oxford English Dictionary (subscription required) |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=31 August 2022}}</ref> A similar term, ''received standard,'' was coined by [[H. C. Wyld|Henry C. K. Wyld]] in 1927.{{sfnp|Wyld|1927|p=23}} The early phonetician [[Alexander John Ellis]] used both terms interchangeably, but with a much broader definition than Jones's, saying, "There is no such thing as a uniform educated pron. of English, and {{abbr|rp|Received Pronunciation}}. and {{abbr|rs|Received Speech}} is a variable quantity differing from individual to individual, although all its varieties are 'received', understood and mainly unnoticed".{{sfnp|Ellis|1869|p=3}}

Although a form of [[Standard English]] had been established in the [[City of London]] by the end of the 15th century, it did not begin to resemble RP until the late 19th century.{{sfnp|Crystal|2003|pp=54–55}}{{sfnp|Crystal|2005|pp=243–244}} RP has most in common with the dialects of what has been termed the South East Midlands, in particular the [[Golden triangle (universities)|Golden Triangle]] of universities, namely London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the public schools that fed them, such as [[Eton College|Eton]], [[Harrow School|Harrow]] and [[Rugby School|Rugby]].<ref name='Robinson'>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Jonnie |title=Received Pronunciation |url=https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation |website=British Library |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829130006/https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation |archive-date=29 August 2019}}</ref> In 1922, the [[BBC]] selected RP as its broadcasting standard, citing its being widely understood globally as a reason.<ref name='Robinson' />

According to ''[[Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' (1965), "the correct term is 'the Received Pronunciation'. The word 'received' conveys its original meaning of 'accepted' or 'approved', as in '[[wiktionary:received#Adjective|received]] wisdom'."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find-out-more/received-pronunciation/ |publisher=British Library |title=Regional Voices – Received Pronunciation |access-date=12 June 2007 |archive-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322064450/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/find-out-more/received-pronunciation/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Alternative names===
Some linguists have used the term "RP" while expressing reservations about its suitability.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2008|pp=77–80}}{{sfnp|Jenkins|2000|pp=13–16}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=117}} The Cambridge-published ''English Pronouncing Dictionary'' (aimed at those learning English as a foreign language) uses the phrase "BBC Pronunciation", on the basis that the name "Received Pronunciation" is "archaic" and that [[BBC News]] presenters no longer suggest high social class and privilege to their listeners.{{sfnp|Jones|2011|p=vi}} Other writers have also used the name "BBC Pronunciation".{{sfnp|Ladefoged|2004}}{{sfnp|Trudgill|1999}} The term 'The Queen's English' has also been used by some writers.<ref name='Robinson'/>

The phonetician [[Jack Windsor Lewis]] frequently criticised the name "Received Pronunciation" in his blog: he has called it "invidious",<ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Windsor Lewis |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/reviewepd.html |title=Review of the Daniel Jones English Pronouncing Dictionary 15th edition 1997 |website=Yek.me.uk |access-date=24 August 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929043355/http://www.yek.me.uk/reviewepd.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> a "ridiculously archaic, parochial and question-begging term"<ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Windsor Lewis |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/reviewlpd.html |title=Ovvissly not one of us – Review of the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |website=Yek.me.uk |access-date=24 August 2011 |archive-date=24 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824050458/http://www.yek.me.uk/reviewlpd.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> and noted that American scholars find the term "quite curious".<ref name=jwl>{{cite web |author=Jack Windsor Lewis |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/brndaccents.html |title=British non-dialectal accents |website=Yek.me.uk |date=19 February 1972 |access-date=24 August 2011 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701072108/http://www.yek.me.uk/brndaccents.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> He used the term "General British" (to parallel "[[General American]]") in his 1970s publication of ''A Concise Pronouncing Dictionary of American and British English''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Windsor Lewis |first1=Jack |title=A Concise Pronouncing Dictionary of British and American English |date=1972 |publisher=Oxford |isbn=0-19-431123-6}}</ref> and in subsequent publications.<ref>{{cite web |first=Jack Windsor |last=Lewis |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/cpdrevieweltj.html |title=Review of CPD in ELTJ |website=Yek.me.uk |access-date=24 August 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929043538/http://www.yek.me.uk/cpdrevieweltj.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The name "General British" is adopted in the latest revision of Gimson's ''Pronunciation of English''.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=80–82}} Beverley Collins and Inger Mees use the term "Non-Regional Pronunciation" for what is often otherwise called RP, and reserve the term "Received Pronunciation" for the "upper-class speech of the twentieth century".{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=3–4}} Received Pronunciation has sometimes been called "Oxford English", as it used to be the accent of most members of the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name='Robinson'/> The ''Handbook of the International Phonetic Association'' uses the name "Standard Southern British". Page 4 reads:

{{Blockquote|text=Standard Southern British (where 'Standard' should not be taken as implying a value judgment of 'correctness') is the modern equivalent of what has been called 'Received Pronunciation' ('RP'). It is an accent of the south east of England which operates as a prestige norm there and (to varying degrees) in other parts of the British Isles and beyond.{{sfnp|International Phonetic Association|1999|p=4}}
}}

===Sub-varieties===
Faced with the difficulty of defining a single standard of RP, some researchers have tried to distinguish between sub-varieties:

* {{harvtxt|Gimson|1962}} proposed Conservative, General, and Advanced; "Conservative RP" referred to a traditional accent associated with older speakers with certain social backgrounds; General RP was considered neutral regarding age, occupation or lifestyle of the speaker; and Advanced RP referred to speech of a younger generation of speakers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gimson |first=A. C. |url=http://archive.org/details/introductiontopr0000gims |title=An introduction to the pronunciation of English |date=1962 |publisher=London E. Arnold |others=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{sfnp|Schmitt|2007|p=323}} Later editions (e.g., Gimson 2008) use the terms General, Refined and Regional RP. In the latest revision of Gimson's book, the terms preferred are General British (GB), Conspicuous GB and Regional GB.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=80–82}}
* {{harvtxt|Wells|1982}} refers to "mainstream RP" and "[[U and non-U English|U-RP]]"; he suggests that Gimson's categories of Conservative and Advanced RP referred to the U-RP of the old and young respectively. However, Wells stated, "It is difficult to separate stereotype from reality" with U-RP.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=}} Writing on his blog in February 2013, Wells wrote, "If only a very small percentage of English people speak RP, as Trudgill et al. claim, then the percentage speaking U-RP is vanishingly small" and "If I were redoing it today, I think I'd drop all mention of 'U-RP'".<ref>[http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/exotic-spices.html "exotic spices"], John Wells's phonetic blog, 28 February 2013.</ref>
* [[Clive Upton|Upton]] distinguishes between RP (which he equates with Wells's "mainstream RP"), Traditional RP (after Ramsaran 1990), and an even older version which he identifies with Cruttenden's "Refined RP".<ref>{{cite book |last=Kortmann |first=Bernd |date=2004 |pages=217–230 |isbn=978-3110175325 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |title=Handbook of Varieties of English: Phonology; Morphology, Syntax |url=http://www.textbooks.com/Handbook-of-Varieties-of-English-Phonology-Morphology-Syntax/9783110175325/Bernd-Kortmann.php?CSID=AU3SS3ZKD3DATAOMCOKTADSAB&dHTxt=978-3110175325&TYP=SBJ&CSID=AU3SSSCJWAKTCKUDKDQMQKS2B&PART=PRINT&TXT= |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>
* An article on the website of the [[British Library]] refers to Conservative, Mainstream and Contemporary RP.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=British Library |title=Sounds Familiar |url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation |access-date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410230006/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Prevalence and perceptions==
Traditionally, Received Pronunciation has been associated with high social class. It was the "everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons whose men-folk [had] been educated at the great public boarding-schools"{{sfnp|Jones|1917|p=viii}} and which conveyed no information about that speaker's region of origin before attending the school. An 1891 teacher's handbook stated, "It is the business of educated people to speak so that no-one may be able to tell in what county their childhood was passed".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burrell |first1=A. |title=Recitation: a Handbook for Teachers in Public Elementary School |date=1891 |location=London}}</ref> Nevertheless, in the 19th century some British prime ministers, such as [[William Ewart Gladstone]], still spoke with some regional features.<ref>Gladstone's speech was the subject of a book ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=o5uvJAAACAAJ&dq The Best English. A claim for the superiority of Received Standard English]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, together with notes on Mr. Gladstone's pronunciation'', H.C. Kennedy, [[Clarendon Press]], Oxford, 1934.</ref>

Opinions differ over the proportion of Britons who speak RP. [[Peter Trudgill|Trudgill]] estimated 3% in 1974,<ref name="trudgillestimate">{{cite web |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |title=Sociolinguistics of Modern RP |publisher=University College London |date=8 December 2000 |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/trudgill.htm |access-date=3 October 2012}}</ref> but that rough estimate has been questioned by [[Jack Windsor Lewis|J. Windsor Lewis]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Windsor Lewis |first=Jack |title=A Notorious Estimate |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/archive45.html#blog443 |website=JWL's Blogs |access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220170250/http://www.yek.me.uk/archive45.html#blog443 |archive-date=20 February 2025}}</ref> Upton notes higher estimates of 5% (Romaine, 2000) and 10% (Wells, 1982) but refers to these as "guesstimates" not based on robust research.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Upton |first=Clive |editor-last1=Reed |editor-first1=Marnie |editor-last2=Levis |editor-first2=John |title=The Handbook of English Pronunciation |publisher=John Wiley & Son |date=21 January 2019 |page=251 |chapter=Chapter 14: British English |isbn=978-1119055266}}</ref>

The claim that RP is non-regional is disputed, since it is most commonly found in London and the southeast of England. It is defined in the ''[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]'' as "the standard accent of English as spoken in the South of England",{{sfnp|Pearsall|1999|p=xiv}} and alternative names such as "Standard Southern British" have been used.{{sfnp|International Phonetic Association|1999}}
Despite RP's historic high social prestige in Britain,{{sfnp|Hudson|1981|p=337}} being seen as the accent of those with power, money, and influence, it may be perceived negatively by some as being associated with undeserved, or accidental, privilege<ref>{{cite web |last=Crystal |first=David |title=Language and Time |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/feature2_4.shtml |work=BBC voices |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 April 2011 |date=March 2007}}</ref>{{sfnp|McArthur|2002|p=43}} and as a symbol of the southeast's political power in Britain.{{sfnp|McArthur|2002|p=43}} Based on a 1997 survey, Jane Stuart-Smith wrote, "RP has little status in Glasgow, and is regarded with hostility in some quarters".<ref>{{cite book |last=Stuart-Smith |first=Jane |title=Urban Voices |chapter=Glasgow: accent and voice quality |page=204 |editor-last1=Foulkes |editor-first1=Paul |editor-last2=Docherty |editor-first2=Gerard |year=1999 |isbn=0340706082 |publisher=Arnold}}</ref> A 2007 survey found that residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland tend to dislike RP.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scottish and Irish accents top list of favourites |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/scottish-and-irish-accents-top-list-of-favourites-448630.html |work=The Independent |date=13 May 2007}}</ref> It is shunned by some with left-wing political views, who may be proud of having accents more typical of the working classes.{{sfnp|McArthur|2002|p=49}}

Since the Second World War, and increasingly since the 1960s, a wider acceptance of regional English varieties has taken hold in education and public life.{{sfnp|Fishman|1977|p=319}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=78}} Nonetheless, surveys from 1969 to 2022 consistently show that RP is perceived as the most prestigious accent of English in the United Kingdom. In 2022, 25% of British adults reported being mocked for their regional accent at work, and 46% in social situations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=3 November 2022 |title=Bias against working-class and regional accents has not gone away, report finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2022/nov/03/bias-against-working-class-and-regional-accents-has-not-gone-away-report-finds |access-date=3 November 2022 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

==Use==
===Media===
In the early days of British broadcasting, speakers of English origin almost universally used RP. The first director-general of the [[BBC]], [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|Lord Reith]], encouraged the use of a 'BBC accent' because it was a "style or quality of English which would not be laughed at in any part of the country". He distinguished the BBC accent from the 'Oxford accent', to which he was "vehemently opposed".<ref>{{Citation |title=1967: John REITH explains the "BBC ACCENT" {{!}} Lord Reith Looks Back {{!}} BBC Archive |date=28 September 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwBQLoa3E_Y |access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref> In 1926 the BBC established an [[BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken English|Advisory Committee on Spoken English]] with distinguished experts, including [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]], to advise on the correct pronunciation and other aspects of broadcast language. The Committee proved unsuccessful and was dissolved after the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198736738.001.0001/acprof-9780198736738 |title=Dictating to the Mob: The History of the BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken English |year=2016 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198736738.001.0001 |last1=Schwyter |first1=Jürg R. |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-873673-8}}</ref> 
While the BBC did advise its speakers on pronunciation, there was never a formalised official BBC pronunciation standard.<ref>Sangster, Catherine, 'The BBC, its Pronunciation Unit and 'BBC English' in Roach, P., Setter, J. and Esling, J. (eds) ''Daniel Jones' English Pronouncing Dictionary'', 4th Edition, Cambridge University Press, pp. xxviii-xxix</ref> A notable departure from the use of RP came with the Yorkshire-born newsreader [[Wilfred Pickles]] during the Second World War; his accent allowing listeners to more clearly distinguish BBC broadcasts from German propaganda, though Pickles had modified his accent to be closer to RP.<ref>Discussed in {{harvtxt|Mugglestone|2003|pp=277–278}}, but even then Pickles modified his speech towards RP when reading the news.</ref><ref>Zoe Thornton, ''The Pickles Experiment – a Yorkshire man reading the news'', Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society 2012, pp. 4–19.</ref>
Since the Second World War RP has played a much smaller role in broadcast speech. RP remains the accent most often heard in the speech of announcers and newsreaders on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and in some TV channels, but non-RP accents are now more widely encountered.<ref>
{{cite book |last1=Roach |first1=Peter |last2=Setter |first2=Jane |last3=Esling |first3=John |title=Daniel Jones' English Pronouncing Dictionary |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge |page=xii}}
</ref>

===Dictionaries===

Most English dictionaries published in Britain (including the [[Oxford English Dictionary]]) now give phonetically transcribed RP pronunciations for all words. Pronunciation dictionaries represent a special class of dictionary giving a wide range of possible pronunciations: British pronunciation dictionaries are all based on RP, though not necessarily using that name. Daniel Jones transcribed RP pronunciations of words and names in the [[English Pronouncing Dictionary]]. Cambridge University Press continues to publish this title, as of 1997 edited by [[Peter Roach (phonetician)|Peter Roach]]. Two other pronunciation dictionaries are in common use: the ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'',{{sfnp|Wells|2008}} compiled by [[John C. Wells]] (using the name "Received Pronunciation"), and [[Clive Upton]]'s ''Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English'',{{sfnp|Upton|Kretzschmar|Konopka|2001}} (now republished as ''The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Upton |first1=Clive |last2=Kretzschmar |first2=William |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781138125667}}</ref>

===Language teaching===
Pronunciation forms an essential component of language learning and teaching; a ''model accent'' is necessary for learners to aim at, and to act as a basis for description in textbooks and classroom materials. RP has been the traditional choice for teachers and learners of [[British English]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ |title=Case Studies – Received Pronunciation |publisher=British Library |date=13 March 2007 |access-date=27 January 2019 |quote=As well as being a living accent, RP is also a theoretical linguistic concept. It is the accent on which phonemic transcriptions in dictionaries are based, and it is widely used (in competition with General American) for teaching English as a foreign language. |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722181432/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the choice of pronunciation model is difficult, and the adoption of RP is in many ways problematic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Adam |title=Pronunciation Models |date=1991 |publisher=Singapore University Press |isbn=9971-69-157-4}}</ref>{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=325–352}}

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-style="font-size: 90%;"
|+Consonant phonemes{{sfnp|Roach|2004|pp=240–241}}
!
!colspan=2| [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=2| [[Interdental consonant|Dental]]
!colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=2| [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
!colspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
!colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
!colspan=2| [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]</small>
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" | || width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|m}}
|colspan=2|
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" | || width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|n}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" | || width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|colspan=2|
|-
! <small>[[Stop consonant|Stop]]</small>
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|b}}
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|t}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|d}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|colspan=2|
|-
! <small>[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]</small>
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPA link|tʃ}}|| width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|dʒ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|-
! <small>[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]</small>
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPA link|f}}|| width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|v}}
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPA link|θ}}|| width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|ð}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|z}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|ʃ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ʒ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPA link|h}}|| width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |
|-
!rowspan=1| <small>[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]</small>
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|l}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɹ|r}}
| width="20" style="border-right: 0;" | || width="20" style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|j}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|w}}
|colspan=2|
|-
|}

Nasals and [[liquid consonant|liquids]] ({{IPA|/m/}}, {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}}, {{IPA|/l/}}) may be [[Syllabic consonant|syllabic]] in [[unstressed syllable]]s.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=241}} The consonant {{IPA|/r/}} in RP is generally a [[postalveolar approximant]],{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=241}} which would normally be expressed with the sign {{IPA|[ɹ]}} in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], but the sign {{IPA|/r/}} is nonetheless traditionally used for RP in most of the literature on the topic.

[[Voiceless plosive]]s ({{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/k/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}}) are [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] at the beginning of a syllable, unless a completely unstressed vowel follows. (For example, the {{IPA|/p/}} is aspirated in "impasse", with primary stress on "-passe", but not "compass", where "-pass" has no stress.) Aspiration does not occur when {{IPA|/s/}} precedes in the same syllable, as in "spot" or "stop". When a [[sonorant]] {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/r/}}, {{IPA|/w/}}, or {{IPA|/j/}} follows, this aspiration is indicated by partial [[devoicing]] of the sonorant.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=240}} {{IPA|/r/}} is a [[Voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant fricative|fricative]] when devoiced.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=241}}

Syllable final {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}} may be either preceded by a [[glottal stop]] ([[Glottalization#Glottal reinforcement|glottal reinforcement]]) or, in the case of {{IPA|/t/}}, fully replaced by a glottal stop, especially before a [[syllabic nasal]] (''bitten'' {{IPA|[ˈbɪʔn̩]}}).{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=240}}{{sfnp|Gimson|1970}} The glottal stop may be realised as [[creaky voice]]; thus, an alternative phonetic transcription of ''attempt'' {{IPA|[əˈtʰemʔt]}} could be {{IPA|[əˈtʰemm̰t]}}.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=241}}

As in other varieties of English, voiced plosives ({{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/dʒ/}}) are partly or even fully devoiced at utterance boundaries or adjacent to [[voiceless consonants]]. The voicing distinction between voiced and voiceless sounds is reinforced by a number of other differences, with the result that the two of consonants can clearly be distinguished even in the presence of devoicing of voiced sounds:

*Aspiration of voiceless consonants syllable-initially
*Glottal reinforcement of /p, t, k, tʃ/ syllable-finally
*Shortening of vowels before voiceless consonants

As a result, some authors prefer to use the terms [[fortis and lenis|''fortis'' and ''lenis'']]<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Fortis and lenis obstruents in English |first=Herbert F. W. |last=Stahlke |date=1 January 2003 |journal=WORD |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=191–216 |doi=10.1080/00437956.2003.12068832 |s2cid=141381109 |doi-access=free}}</ref> in place of ''voiceless'' and ''voiced''. However, the latter are traditional and in more frequent usage.

The voiced dental fricative ({{IPA|/ð/}}) is more often a weak [[dental plosive]]; the sequence {{IPA|/nð/}} is often realised as {{IPA|[n̪n̪]}} (a long [[dental nasal]]).{{sfnp|Lodge|2009|pp=148–149}}{{sfnp|Shockey|2003|pp=43–44}}{{sfnp|Roach|2009|p=112}} {{IPA|/l/}} has [[velarised]] [[allophone]] ({{IPA|[ɫ]}}) in the [[syllable rime|syllable rhyme]].{{sfnp|Halle|Mohanan|1985|p=65}} {{IPA|/h/}} becomes voiced ({{IPA|[ɦ]}}) between [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] sounds.{{sfnp|Jones|1967|p=201}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2008|p=204}}

===Vowels===
[[Image:RP English monophthongs chart.svg|thumb|Monophthongs of a fairly conservative variety of RP. From {{harvtxt|Roach| 2004|p=242}}]]
[[Image:Modern General British monophthong chart.svg|thumb|Monophthongs of a modern variety of RP. Adapted from {{harvtxt|Cruttenden| 2014|}}]]
[[Image:Ranges of RP and GA English weak vowels.svg|thumb|Ranges of the weak vowels in RP and GA. From {{harvtxt|Wells| 2008|p=XXV}}]]
[[Image:RP English allophones on a vowel chart.svg|thumb|Allophones of some RP monophthongs, from {{Harvcoltxt|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=92, 95, 101}}. The red ones occur before dark {{IPA|/l/|cat=no}},<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=95, 101}}</ref> and the blue one occurs before velars.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Collins|Mees|2003|p=92}}</ref>]]

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[Monophthong]]s ("Short")
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! {{small|unrounded}}
! {{small|rounded}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ}}
| {{IPA link|ɵ|ʊ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ|e}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
| {{IPA link|ʌ}}
| {{IPA link|ɔ|ɒ}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|a|æ}}
| 
|
|
|}

Examples of [[short vowel]]s: {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in ''k'''i'''t'', ''m'''i'''rror'' and ''rabb'''i'''t'', {{IPA|/ʊ/}} in ''f'''oo'''t'' and ''c'''oo'''k'', {{IPA|/e/}} in ''dr'''e'''ss'' and ''m'''e'''rry'', {{IPA|/ʌ/}} in ''str'''u'''t'' and ''c'''u'''rry'', {{IPA|/æ/}} in ''tr'''a'''p'' and ''m'''a'''rry'', {{IPA|/ɒ/}} in ''l'''o'''t'' and '''''o'''range'', {{IPA|/ə/}} in '''''a'''go'' and ''sof'''a'''''.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[Monophthong]]s ("Long")
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|iː|audio=en-uk-e.ogg}}
| {{IPA link|ʉ|uː}} 
|
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛː|audio=en-uk-air.ogg}}
| {{IPA link|ɜː|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-er.wav}}
|{{IPA link|o|ɔː|audio=en-uk-awe.ogg}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɑː|audio=En-uk-r.ogg}}
|}

Examples of [[long vowel]]s: {{IPA|/iː/}} in ''fl'''ee'''ce'', {{IPA|/uː/}} in ''g'''oo'''se'', {{IPA|/ɛː/}} in ''b'''ear''''', {{IPA|/ɜː/}} in ''n'''ur'''se'' and ''f'''ur'''ry'', {{IPA|/ɔː/}} in ''n'''or'''th'', ''f'''or'''ce'' and ''th'''ou'''ght'', {{IPA|/ɑː/}} in ''f'''a'''ther'' and ''st'''ar'''t''.

The long mid front vowel {{IPA|/ɛː/}} is elsewhere transcribed with the traditional symbols {{angbr IPA|ɛə, eə}}. The predominant realisation in contemporary RP is [[monophthong]]al.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=118}}

===="Long" and "short" vowels====
Many conventional descriptions of the RP vowel system group the non-diphthongal vowels into the categories "long" and "short". This should not be taken to mean that RP has [[minimal pair]]s in which the only difference is vowel length. "Long" and "short" are convenient cover terms for a number of phonetic features. The long-short pairings shown above include also differences in vowel quality.

The vowels called "long" [[high vowel]]s in RP {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}} are slightly [[diphthong]]ized, and are often narrowly transcribed in phonetic literature as diphthongs {{IPA|[ɪi]}} and {{IPA|[ʊu]}}.{{sfnp|Roach|2009|p=20}}{{efn|{{harvtxt|Roach|2009|p=20}}'s notes on one of the reasons for not treating these two phonemes as diphthongs: "I mention above that {{IPA|iː}}, {{IPA|uː}} are often pronounced as slightly diphthongal: although this glide is often noticeable, I have never found it helpful to try to teach foreign learners to pronounce {{IPA|iː}}, {{IPA|uː}} in this way."}} The starting point of the diphthongal {{IPA|/uː/}} can be either close to {{IPA|[ʊ]}} or a more centralised and even unrounded {{IPA|[ɨ̞]}}, and its narrow transcriptions could be either {{IPA|[ʊu]}} or {{IPA|[ɨ̞ɯ̈]}}.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=133}}

Vowels may be phonologically long or short (i.e. belong to the long or the short group of vowel phonemes) but their length is influenced by their context: in particular, they are shortened if a voiceless ([[fortis consonant|fortis]]) consonant follows in the syllable, so that, for example, the vowel in ''bat'' {{IPA|[bæʔt]}} is shorter than the vowel in ''bad'' {{IPA|[bæˑd]}}. The process is known as [[Clipping (phonetics)|''pre-fortis clipping'']]. Thus phonologically short vowels in one context can be phonetically ''longer'' than phonologically long vowels in another context.{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=241}} For example, the vowel called "long" {{IPA|/iː/}} in ''reach'' {{IPA|/riːtʃ/}} (which ends with a voiceless consonant) may be shorter than the vowel called "short" {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in the word ''ridge'' {{IPA|/rɪdʒ/}} (which ends with a voiced consonant). Wiik,{{sfnp|Wiik|1965}} cited in {{harvcol|Cruttenden|2014}}, published durations of English vowels with a mean value of 172 [[Millisecond|ms]] for short vowels before voiced consonants but a mean value of 165&nbsp;ms for long vowels preceding voiceless consonants.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=101}}

In [[natural speech]], the plosives {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} often have no audible release utterance-finally, and voiced consonants are partly or completely devoiced (as in {{IPA|[b̥æˑd̥]}}); thus the perceptual distinction between pairs of words such as ''bad'' and ''bat'', or ''seed'' and ''seat'' rests mostly on vowel length (though the presence or absence of glottal reinforcement provides an additional cue).{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=}}

Unstressed vowels are both shorter and more centralised than stressed ones. In unstressed syllables occurring before vowels and in final position, contrasts between long and short high vowels are neutralised and short {{IPA|[i]}} and {{IPA|[u]}} occur (e.g. ''happy'' {{IPA|[ˈhæpi]}}, ''throughout'' {{IPA|[θɹuˈaʊʔt]}}).{{sfnp|Roach|2004|pp=241, 243}} The neutralisation is common throughout many English dialects, though the phonetic realisation of e.g. {{IPA|[i]}} rather than {{IPA|[ɪ]}} (a phenomenon called [[happy-tensing|''happy''-tensing]]) is not as universal.

According to phonetician [[Jane Setter]], the typical pronunciation of the short variant of {{IPA|/uː/}} is a weakly rounded [[near-close near-back rounded vowel]] {{IPAblink|ʊ|ʊ̜}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=A World of Englishes: Is {{IPA|/ə/ |cat=no}} "real"? |date=19 June 2013 |url=http://aworldofenglishes.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-real.html |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>

====Diphthongs and triphthongs====
[[Image:RP English diphthongs chart.svg|thumb|Diphthongs of RP. From {{harvtxt|Roach|2004|p=242}}]]
[[Image:cruttenden_closing_diphthongs.svg|thumb|Closing diphthongs of RP (with the diphthongal realisations of {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}}). Adapted from {{harvtxt|Cruttenden| 2014|}}]]
[[Image:cruttenden_centring_diphthongs.svg|thumb|Centring diphthongs of RP. Adapted from {{harvtxt|Cruttenden| 2014|}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! [[Diphthong]]
! colspan="2" |Example
|-
! colspan="3" | Closing
|-
| {{IPA|/eɪ/}} {{Audio|en-uk-a.ogg||help=no}} || {{IPA|/beɪ/}} || bay {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-bay.wav||help=no}}
|-
| {{IPA|/aɪ/}} {{Audio|en-uk-I.ogg||help=no}} || {{IPA|/baɪ/}} || buy {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-buy.wav||help=no}}
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔɪ/}} {{Audio|en-uk-oi.ogg||help=no}} || {{IPA|/bɔɪ/}} || boy {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-boy.wav ||help=no}}
|-
| {{IPA|/əʊ/}} {{Audio|En-uk-oh.ogg||help=no}} || {{IPA|/bəʊ/}} || beau {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-beau.wav||help=no}}
|-
| {{IPA|/aʊ/}} {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-aʊ (diphthong).wav||help=no}} || {{IPA|/baʊ/}} || bough {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-bough.wav||help=no}}
|-
! colspan="3" | Centring
|-
| {{IPA|/ɪə/}} {{Audio|en-uk-ear.ogg||help=no}} || {{IPA|/bɪə/}} || beer {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-beer.wav||help=no}}
|-
| {{IPA|/ʊə/}} {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-ʊə (diphthong).wav||help=no}} || {{IPA|/bʊə/}} || boor {{Audio|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-boor.wav||help=no}}
|}

The centring diphthongs are gradually being eliminated in RP. The vowel {{IPA|/ɔə/}} (as in ''door'', ''boar'') had largely merged with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} by the Second World War, and the vowel {{IPA|/ʊə/}} (as in ''poor'', ''tour'') has more recently merged with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} as well among most speakers,{{sfnp|Roca|Johnson|1999|p=200}} although the sound {{IPA|/ʊə/}} is still found in conservative speakers, and in less common words such as ''boor''. See [[Cure–force merger|{{sc2|CURE}}–{{sc2|FORCE}} merger]]. More recently {{IPA|/ɛə/}} has become a pure long vowel {{IPA|/ɛː/}}, as explained above. {{IPA|/ɪə/}} is increasingly pronounced as a monophthong {{IPA|[ɪː]}}, although without merging with any existing vowels.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=154}}

The diphthong {{IPA|/əʊ/}} is pronounced by some RP speakers in a noticeably different way when it occurs before {{IPA|/l/}}, if that consonant is [[Syllable final|syllable-final]] and not followed by a vowel (the context in which {{IPA|/l/}} is pronounced as a "dark l"). The realisation of {{IPA|/əʊ/}} in this case begins with a more back, rounded and sometimes more open vowel quality; it may be transcribed as {{IPA|[ɔʊ]}} or {{IPA|[ɒʊ]}}. It is likely that the backness of the diphthong onset is the result of [[Allophone|allophonic]] variation caused by the raising of the back of the tongue for the {{IPA|/l/}}. If the speaker has "l-vocalization" the {{IPA|/l/}} is realised as a back rounded vowel, which again is likely to cause backing and rounding in a preceding vowel as [[coarticulation]] effects. This phenomenon has been discussed in several blogs by [[John C. Wells]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=Blog July 2006 |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0607.htm |access-date=24 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=Blog July 2009 |url=http://www.phonetic-blog.blogspot.fr/2009_10_01_archive.html |access-date=24 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=Blog Nov 2009 |url=http://www.phonetic-blog.blogspot.fr/2009_11_01_archive.html |access-date=24 March 2014}}</ref> In the recording included in this article the phrase "fold his cloak" contains examples of the {{IPA|/əʊ/}} diphthong in the two different contexts. The onset of the pre-{{IPA|/l/}} diphthong in "fold" is slightly more back and rounded than that in "cloak".

RP also possesses the [[triphthong]]s {{IPA|/aɪə/}} as in ''tire'', {{IPA|/aʊə/}} as in ''tower'', {{IPA|/əʊə/}} as in ''lower'', {{IPA|/eɪə/}} as in ''layer'' and {{IPA|/ɔɪə/}} as in ''loyal''. There are different possible realisations of these items: in slow, careful speech they may be pronounced as two syllables with three distinct vowel qualities in succession, or as a monosyllabic triphthong. In more casual speech the middle vowel may be considerably reduced, by a process known as [[triphthong smoothing|smoothing]], and in an extreme form of this process the triphthong may even be reduced to a single long vowel.{{sfnp|Roach|2009|pp=18–19}} In such a case the difference between {{IPA|/aʊə/}}, {{IPA|/aɪə/}}, and {{IPA|/ɑː/}} in ''tower'', ''tire'', and ''tar'' may be [[Archiphoneme|neutralised]] with all three units realised as {{IPA|[ɑː]}} or {{IPA|[äː]}}. This type of smoothing is known as the [[English-language vowel changes before historic /r/#Tower–tire, tower–tar and tire–tar mergers|''tower''–''tire'', ''tower''–''tar'' and ''tire''–''tar'' mergers]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[Triphthong]]s{{sfnp|Gimson|1970}}
! As two syllables
! Triphthong
! Loss of mid-element
! Further simplified as
! Example
|-
| {{IPA|[aɪ.ə]}}
| {{IPA|[aɪə]}}
| {{IPA|[aːə]}}
| {{IPA|[aː]}}
| tire
|-
| {{IPA|[ɑʊ.ə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɑʊə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɑːə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɑː]}}
| tower
|-
| {{IPA|[əʊ.ə]}}
| {{IPA|[əʊə]}}
| {{IPA|[əːə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɜː]}}
| lower
|-
| {{IPA|[eɪ.ə]}}
| {{IPA|[eɪə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɛːə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɛː]}}
| layer
|-
| {{IPA|[ɔɪ.ə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɔɪə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɔːə]}}
| {{IPA|[ɔː]}}
| loyal
|}

====BATH vowel====
{{see also|Trap–bath split{{!}}''Trap–bath'' split}}
There are differing opinions as to whether {{IPA|/æ/}} in the <small>BATH</small> [[lexical set]] can be considered RP. The pronunciations with {{IPA|/ɑː/}} are invariably accepted as RP.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=203''ff''}} The ''English Pronouncing Dictionary'' does not admit {{IPA|/æ/}} in <small>BATH</small> words and the ''[[Longman Pronunciation Dictionary]]'' lists them with a § marker of non-RP status.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/lpdeltj.html |title=Review of Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |author=Jack Windsor Lewis |newspaper=The Times |year=1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220170146/http://www.yek.me.uk/lpdeltj.html |archive-date=20 February 2025}}</ref> John Wells wrote in a blog entry on 16 March 2012 that when growing up in the north of England he used {{IPA|/ɑː/}} in "bath" and "glass", and considers this the only acceptable phoneme in RP.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |url=http://www.phonetic-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/english-places.html |title=English places |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |date=16 March 2012}}</ref> Others have argued that {{IPA|/æ/}} is too categorical in the north of England to be excluded. Clive Upton believes that {{IPA|/æ/}} in these words must be considered within RP and has called the opposing view "south-centric".{{sfnp|Upton|2004|pp=222–223}} Upton's ''Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English'' gives both variants for <small>BATH</small> words. A. F. Gupta's survey of mostly middle-class students found that {{IPA|/æ/}} was used by almost everyone who was from clearly north of the [[isogloss]] for <small>BATH</small> words. She wrote, "There is no justification for the claims by Wells and Mugglestone that this is a sociolinguistic variable in the north, though it is a sociolinguistic variable on the areas on the border [the isogloss between north and south]".{{sfnp|Gupta|2005|p=25}} In a study of speech in West Yorkshire, [[KM Petyt|K. M. Petyt]] wrote that "the amount of {{IPA|/ɑː/}} usage is too low to correlate meaningfully with the usual factors", having found only two speakers (both having attended boarding schools in the south) who consistently used {{IPA|/ɑː/}}.{{sfnp|Petyt|1985|pp=166–167}}

Jack Windsor Lewis has noted that the Oxford Dictionary's position has changed several times on whether to include short {{IPA|/æ/}} within its prescribed pronunciation.<ref>Point 18 in {{cite web |url=http://www.yek.me.uk/centnthpn.html |title=The General Central Northern Non-Dialectal Pronunciation of England |author=Jack Windsor Lewis |access-date=4 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220170250/http://www.yek.me.uk/centnthpn.html |archive-date=20 February 2025}}</ref> The ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' uses only {{IPA|/ɑː/}}, but its author, Graham Pointon, has stated on his blog that he finds both variants to be acceptable in place names.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pointon |first=Graham |url=http://www.linguism.co.uk/language/olivia-oleary |title=Olivia O'Leary |website=Linguism: Language in a word |date=20 April 2010}}</ref>

Some research has concluded that many people in the [[Northern England|North of England]] have a dislike of the {{IPA|/ɑː/}} vowel in <small>BATH</small> words. A. F. Gupta wrote, "Many of the northerners were noticeably hostile to {{IPA|/ɡrɑːs/}}, describing it as 'comical', 'snobbish', 'pompous' or even 'for morons'."{{sfnp|Gupta|2005|p=25}} On the subject, K. M. Petyt wrote that several respondents "positively said that they did not prefer the long-vowel form or that they really detested it or even that it was incorrect".{{sfnp|Petyt|1985|p=286}} Mark Newbrook has assigned this phenomenon the name "conscious rejection", and has cited the {{sc2|BATH}} vowel as "the main instance of conscious rejection of RP" in his research in West [[Wirral Peninsula|Wirral]].{{sfnp|Newbrook|1999|p=101}}

====French words====
John Wells has argued that, as educated British speakers often attempt to pronounce French names in a French way, there is a case for including {{IPA|/ɒ̃/}} (as in {{lang|fr|bon}}), and {{IPA|/æ̃/}} and {{IPA|/ɜ̃ː/}} (as in {{lang|fr|vingt-et-un}}), as marginal members of the RP vowel system.{{sfnp|Wells|2008|p=xxix}} He also argues against including other French vowels on the grounds that not many British speakers succeed in distinguishing the vowels in {{lang|fr|bon}} and {{lang|fr|banc}}, or in {{lang|fr|rue}} and {{lang|fr|roue}}.{{sfnp|Wells|2008|p=xxix}} However, the ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary'' draws a distinction between {{IPA|/ɒ̃/}} (there rendered as {{IPA|/ɔ̃ː/}}) and the unrounded {{IPA|/ɑ̃ː/}} of {{lang|fr|banc}} for a total of four nasal vowels.{{sfnp|Roach|2011}}

====Alternative notations====
Not all reference sources use the same system of transcription. [[Clive Upton]] devised a modified system for the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (1993) based on contemporary pronunciation. His changes to five symbols from the traditional Gimson system are now used in many other [[Oxford University Press]] dictionaries; the differences are shown in the table below.

{| cellspacing="5" style="margin-left:1.5em;" class="wikitable"
|+ Upton's reform
! style="text-align:left; width:33%;" | [[Lexical set]] (example)
! style="text-align:left; width:33%;" | Traditional symbol
! style="text-align:left;" | Upton's reform symbol
|-
| {{Smallcaps2|DRESS}}|| {{IPA|/e/}} || {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
|-
| {{Smallcaps2|TRAP}}|| {{IPA|/æ/}} || {{IPA|/a/}}
|-
| {{Smallcaps2|NURSE}}|| {{IPA|/ɜː/}} || {{IPA|/əː/}}
|-
| {{Smallcaps2|SQUARE}}|| {{IPA|/eə/}} || {{IPA|/ɛː/}}
|-
| {{Smallcaps2|PRICE}}|| {{IPA|/aɪ/}} || {{IPA|/ʌɪ/}}
|}

[[Geoff Lindsey]], arguing that the system of transcription for RP has become outdated, has proposed a new system (which he calls Standard Southern British, or SSB) as a replacement.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindsey |first=Geoff |url=http://englishspeechservices.com/blog/?p=1795 |title=The British English vowel system |website=speech talk |date=8 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/lindsey-system.html |title=the Lindsey system |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |date=12 March 2012}}</ref> Lindsey's system is as follows—differences between it and standard transcription are depicted with the traditional transcription in parentheses.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Lindsey's monophthongs and diphthongs
!Short
!Long (triggering r-liaison)
!+j diphthong
!+w diphthong
|-
|{{IPA|/a/}} (æ)
|{{IPA|/ɑː/}}
|{{IPA|/ɑj/}} (aɪ)
|{{IPA|/aw/}} (aʊ)
|-
|{{IPA|/ɛ/}} (e)
|{{IPA|/ɛː/}} (ɛə)
|{{IPA|/ɛj/}} (eɪ)
|
|-
|{{IPA|/ɪ/}}
|{{IPA|/ɪː/}} (ɪə)
|{{IPA|/ɪj/}} (iː)
|
|-
|{{IPA|/ɔ/}} (ɒ)
|{{IPA|/oː/}} (ɔː)
|{{IPA|/oj/}} (ɔɪ)
|
|-
|{{IPA|/ɵ/}} (ʊ)
|{{IPA|/ɵː/}} (ʊə)
|
|{{IPA|/ʉw/}} (uː)
|-
|{{IPA|/ə/}}
|{{IPA|/əː/}} (ɜː)
|
|{{IPA|/əw/}} (əʊ)
|-
|{{IPA|/ʌ/}}
|
|
|
|}

==Historical variation==

Like all accents, RP has changed with time. For example, sound recordings and films from the first half of the 20th century demonstrate that it was usual for speakers of RP to pronounce the {{IPA|/æ/}} sound, as in ''land'', with a vowel close to {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, so that ''land'' would sound similar to a present-day pronunciation of ''lend''. RP is sometimes known as ''the Queen's English'', but recordings show that even [[Queen Elizabeth II]] shifted her pronunciation over the course of her reign, ceasing to use an {{IPA|[ɛ]}}-like vowel in words like ''land''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003859.html |title=Happy-tensing and coal in sex |author=Language Log |author-link=Language Log |date=5 December 2006}}</ref> The change in RP may be observed in the home of "''BBC English''". The BBC accent of the 1950s is distinctly different from today's: a news report from the 1950s is recognisable as such, and a mock-1950s BBC voice is used for comic effect in programmes wishing to satirise 1950s social attitudes such as the [[Harry Enfield|Harry Enfield Show]] and its "Mr. Cholmondley-Warner" sketches.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Enfield |first1=Harry |title=Mr Cholmondley-Warner on Life in 1990 |website=[[YouTube]] |date=30 July 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gou1cspUfdY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/gou1cspUfdY |archive-date=30 October 2021 |access-date=14 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Robinson, Jonnie 2019" />
[[Image:RP vowel movement.png|thumb|upright=1.59|A comparison of the [[formant]] values of {{IPA|/iː æ ɑː ɔː ʊ uː/}} for older (black) and younger (light blue) RP speakers. From {{harvtxt|de Jong|McDougall|Hudson|Nolan|2007|p=1814}}]]

A few illustrative examples of changes in RP during the 20th century and early 21st are given below. A more comprehensive list (using the name "General British" in place of "RP") is given in ''Gimson's Pronunciation of English''.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=83–85}}

===Vowels and diphthongs===

* Words such as {{sc2|CLOTH}}, ''gone'', ''off'', ''often'', ''cross'' were formerly pronounced with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} instead of {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, so that ''often'' and ''orphan'' were [[homophone]]s (see [[Lot–cloth split|''lot''–''cloth'' split]]). The Queen continued to use the older pronunciations,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HnePKE9AAE&t=280s The Queen's speech to President Sarkozy], "often" pronounced at 4:40.</ref> but it is now rare to hear this on the BBC.
* There used to be a [[Horse–hoarse merger|distinction between ''horse'' and ''hoarse'']] with an extra diphthong {{IPA|/ɔə/}} appearing in words like ''hoarse'', {{sc2|FORCE}}, and ''pour''.{{sfnp|Wright|1905|p=5|ps=, §12}} The symbols used by Wright are slightly different: the sound in ''fall, law, saw'' is transcribed as {{IPA|/oː/}} and that in ''more, soar,'' etc. as {{IPA|/oə/}}. [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]] gives an account of the /ɔə/ diphthong, but notes "many speakers of Received English (''sic''), myself among them, do not use the diphthong at all, but replace it always by /ɔː/".{{sfnp|Jones|1967|p=115, para 458}} This distinction had become obsolete in RP by the late 20th century.<ref name="Wells">{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=Whatever happened to Received Pronunciation? |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/rphappened.htm |date=27 January 1994 |access-date=24 August 2011}}</ref>
* The vowel in words such as ''tour'', ''moor'', ''sure'' used to be {{IPA|/ʊə/}}, but this has merged with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} for most contemporary speakers.<ref name="Gimson A.C. 2008">Gimson A.C., Pronunciation of English, Londyn: Hodder Education, 2008, ISBN 978-0-340-958773</ref> The effect of these two mergers (horse-hoarse and moor-more) is to bring about a number of three-way mergers of items which were hitherto distinct, such as ''poor'', ''paw'' and ''pore'' ({{IPA|/pʊə/}}, {{IPA|/pɔː/}}, {{IPA|/pɔə/}}) all becoming {{IPA|/pɔː/}}.
* The {{sc2|DRESS}} vowel and the starting point of the {{sc2|FACE}} diphthong has become lowered from mid {{IPA|[e̞]}} to open-mid {{IPA|[ɛ]}}.<ref>{{cite web |first=Geoff |last=Lindsey |url=http://englishspeechservices.com/blog/funny-old-vowels/ |title=Funny old vowels |date=3 June 2012 |access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref>
* The starting point of the {{sc2|choice}} diphthong has raised from {{IPA|[ɔɪ]}} to {{IPA|[oɪ]}}.<ref>{{cite web |first=Geoff |last=Lindsey |url=https://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog/british-vowels/ |title=The British English vowel system |date=8 March 2012 |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref>
* Before the Second World War, the vowel of ''cup'' was a back vowel close to [[Cardinal vowel|cardinal]] {{IPA|[ʌ]}}. It then shifted forward to {{IPAblink|ɐ}}, but {{IPAblink|ʌ}} is increasingly used in modern RP to avoid the clash with the lowered variety of {{IPA|/æ/}} in the {{IPAblink|a}} region (the [[trap-strut merger]]).{{sfnp|Roca|Johnson|1999|pp=135, 186}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=122}}{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|p=22}}
* There has been a change in the pronunciation of the unstressed final vowel of ''happy'' as a result of a process known as [[Phonological history of English close front vowels#Happy-tensing|happY-tensing]]: an older pronunciation of ''happy'' would have had the vowel /ɪ/ whereas a more modern pronunciation has a vowel nearer to /iː/.{{sfnp|Trudgill|1999|p=62}} In pronunciation handbooks and dictionaries it is now common to use the symbol /i/ to cover both possibilities. 
* In a number of words where contemporary RP has an unstressed syllable with schwa {{IPA|/ə/}}, older pronunciations had {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, for instance, the final vowel in the following: ''kindness'', ''doubtless'', ''witness'', ''witless'', ''toilet'', ''fortunate''.<ref name="Robinson, Jonnie 2019">Robinson, Jonnie (24 April 2019). "Received Pronunciation". The British Library. Retrieved 16 December 2019.</ref>
* The {{IPA|/ɛː/}} phoneme (as in ''fair'', ''care'', ''there'') was realised as a centring diphthong {{IPA|[ɛə]}} in the past, whereas most present-day speakers of RP pronounce it as a long monophthong {{IPAblink|ɛː}}.<ref name="Robinson, Jonnie 2019"/>
* The {{IPA|/ɪə/}} (as in ''near'', ''serious'') and {{IPA|/ʊə/}} (as in ''cure'', ''rural''; when not merged with {{IPA|/ɔː/}}) phonemes are also becoming monophthongised to {{IPA|[ɪː]}} and {{IPA|[ʊː~ɵː]}}, though this is not yet as widespread as for {{IPA|/ɛː/}}.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=85}}{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|p=60-62}}
* A change in the symbolisation of the GOAT diphthong reflects a change in the pronunciation of the starting point: older accounts of this diphthong describe it as starting with [ö̞], moving towards [u].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Daniel |title=An outline of English phonetics |date=1957 |publisher=Heffer |isbn=978-0521210980 |page=101, para 394 |edition=9th}}</ref> This was often symbolised as /ou/ or /oʊ/. In modern RP the starting point is unrounded and central, and is symbolised /əʊ/.<ref name="Wells"/>
* The vowels in {{sc2|LOT}} and {{sc2|THOUGHT-NORTH-FORCE}}, traditionally transcribed as {{IPA|/ɒ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}}, have shifted upwards, and are now close to {{IPAblink|ɔ}} and  {{IPAblink|oː}}, respectively, in quality.{{sfnp|Wikström|2013|p=45|ps=. "It seems to be the case that younger RP or near-RP speakers typically use a closer quality, possibly approaching Cardinal 6 considering that the quality appears to be roughly intermediate between that used by older speakers for the LOT vowel and that used for the THOUGHT vowel, while older speakers use a more open quality, between Cardinal Vowels 13 and 6."}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog/morgen-a-suitable-case-for-treatment/ |title=Morgen – a suitable case for treatment |last=Lindsey |first=Geoff |date=15 July 2012}}</ref>{{sfnp|Roach|2004|p=242}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=126, 133}}
* The vowels in {{sc2|FOOT}} and {{sc2|GOOSE}}, traditionally transcribed as {{IPA|/ʊ/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}}, have undergone fronting and reduction in the amount of lip-rounding{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2013|p=207}} (phonetically, these can be transcribed {{IPAblink|ʊ̈|ʊ̜̈}} and {{IPAblink|ʉː|ʉ̜ː}}, respectively). 
* As noted above, the {{sc2|TRAP}} vowel {{IPA|/æ/}} has become more open, near to cardinal {{IPAblink|a}}.{{sfnp|de Jong|McDougall|Hudson|Nolan|2007|pp=1814–1815}}{{sfnp|Roach|2011}}<ref name="Wells"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Keyword
!Older RP
!Traditional

RP
!Modern

RP
|-
!commA
| colspan="3" rowspan="2" |ə
|-
!lettER
|-
!TRAP
| colspan="2" |æ
|a
|-
!BATH
| colspan="3" rowspan="3" |ɑ̟ː
|-
!PALM
|-
!START
|-
!LOT
| colspan="2" |ɒ
| rowspan="2" |ɔ
|-
!CLOTH
| rowspan="3" |ɔː
| rowspan="4" |o̞ː
|-
!THOUGHT
| rowspan="4" |o̞ː
|-
!NORTH
|-
!FORCE
|(ɔə~)ɔː
|-
!CURE
| colspan="2" |ʊə
|-
!STRUT
|ʌ̈
|ɐ
|ɐ~ʌ̈~ɑ̈
|-
!FOOT
| colspan="2" |ʊ
|ɵ
|-
!GOOSE
|uː
|ʊu̟
|ʊ̈ʉ~ɪ̈ɨ
|-
!DRESS
| colspan="2" |e̞
|ɛ
|-
!KIT
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |ɪ
|ɪ̞
|-
!happY
| rowspan="2" |ɪi
|-
!FLEECE
|iː
|ɪi
|-
!NEAR
| colspan="2" |ɪə
|ɪə~ɪː
|-
!NURSE
| colspan="3" |əː~ɜː
|-
!FACE
| colspan="2" |e̞ɪ
|ɛɪ
|-
!SQUARE
| colspan="2" |ɛə
|ɛː
|-
!GOAT
|ö̞ʊ
|əʊ
|əʉ
|-
!PRICE
|aɪ
|äɪ
|ɑ̟ɪ~ʌɪ
|-
!MOUTH
|äʊ
|ɑ̟ʊ
|aʊ
|-
!CHOICE
|ɔɪ
|ɔ̝ɪ
|oɪ
|}

===Consonants===

* For speakers of Received Pronunciation in the late 19th century, it was common for the consonant combination {{angbr|wh}} (as in ''which'', ''whistle'', ''whether'') to be realised as a [[voiceless labio-velar fricative]] {{IPA|/ʍ/}} (also transcribed {{IPA|/hw/}}), as can still be heard in the 21st century in the speech of many speakers in Ireland, Scotland and parts of the US. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the {{IPA|/ʍ/}} phoneme has ceased to be a feature of RP, except in an exaggeratedly precise style of speaking ([[Pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩#Wine–whine merger|the wine-whine merger]]).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=228–229}}
* There has been considerable growth in [[glottalisation]] in RP, most commonly in the form of [[Glottalization#Glottal reinforcement|glottal reinforcement]]. This has been noted by writers on RP since quite early in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Ida |title=The Phonetics of English |date=1939 |pages=135–136, para 250 |edition=3rd}}</ref> Ward notes pronunciations such as [njuːʔtrəl] for ''neutral'' and [reʔkləs] for ''reckless''. Glottalization of /tʃ/ is widespread in present-day RP when at the end of a stressed syllable, as in ''butcher'' [bʊʔtʃə].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger |title=Practical English Phonetics and Phonology |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-59150-9 |page=67 |edition=4th}}</ref>
* The realisation of /r/ as a [[Tap and flap consonants|tap or flap]] [ɾ] has largely disappeared from RP, though it can be heard in films and broadcasts from the first half of the 20th century. The word ''very'' was frequently pronounced [veɾɪ]. The same sound, however, is sometimes pronounced as an allophone of /t/ when it occurs intervocalically after a stressed syllable – the [[Flapping|"flapped /t/"]] that is familiar in American English. Phonetically, this sounds more like /d/, and this pronunciation is sometimes known as /t/-voicing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger |title=Practical English Phonetics and Phonology |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-59150-9 |page=69 |edition=4th}}</ref>
* Most RP speakers use /tʃ/ instead of /tj/ and /dʒ/ instead of /dj/ in accented syllables.<ref name="Gimson A.C. 2008"/>

===Word-specific changes===

A number of cases can be identified where changes in the pronunciation of individual words, or small groups of words, have taken place.

* The word ''Mass'' (referring to the religious rite) was often pronounced /mɑːs/ in older versions of RP, but the word is now almost always /mæs/.
* The indefinite article ''an'' was traditionally used before a sounded /h/ if immediately followed by an unstressed vowel, as in 'an hyaena.'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OsIAAAAQAAJ&q=%22An+must+be+used+before+all+words+beginning%22 |title=A critical pronouncing dictionary |date=1824 |page=25}}</ref> This is now uncommon, especially in speech, and may be confined only to some of the more frequently used words, such as 'horrific' and 'historical.'<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Chambers Dictionary |publisher=Chambers |year=2003 |isbn=0-550-10105-5 |edition=9th |chapter=an}}</ref><ref name="simpson">Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (1989). [[Oxford English Dictionary]] (Second ed.). New York: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wordsworth |first=Dot |title=An historic |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/an-historic |access-date=17 February 2022 |website=The Spectator |url-access=subscription |date=8 April 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217145646/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/an-historic |archive-date=17 February 2022}}</ref>

==Comparison with other varieties of English==
{{See also|Sound correspondences between English accents}}
* Like most other varieties of English outside Northern England, RP has undergone the [[foot–strut split|''foot''–''strut'' split]]: pairs like ''put''/''putt'' are pronounced differently.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=196''ff''}}
* RP is a [[Rhoticity in English|non-rhotic accent]], so {{IPA|/r/}} does not occur unless followed immediately by a vowel. Pairs such as ''father''/''farther'', ''caught''/''court'' and ''formally''/''formerly'' are homophones.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=76}}
* Unlike a number of [[North American English]] accents, RP has not undergone the [[Mary–marry–merry merger|''Mary''–''marry''–''merry'']], [[Mirror–nearer merger|''nearer''–''mirror'']], or [[English-language vowel changes before historic r#Hurry–furry merger|''hurry''–''furry'']] mergers: all these words are distinct from each other.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=245}}
* Unlike many North American accents, RP has not undergone the [[Father–bother merger|''father''–''bother'']] or [[Cot–caught merger|''cot''–''caught'' mergers]].
* RP does not have [[English consonant-cluster reductions#Yod-dropping|yod-dropping]] after {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/z/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}}, but some speakers of RP have ''yod''-dropping after {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}. Hence, for example, ''new'', ''tune'', ''dune'', ''resume'' and ''enthusiasm'' are pronounced {{IPA|/njuː/}}, {{IPA|/tjuːn/}}, {{IPA|/djuːn/}}, {{IPA|/rɪˈzjuːm/}} and {{IPA|/ɪnˈθjuːziæzm/}} rather than {{IPA|/nuː/}}, {{IPA|/tuːn/}}, {{IPA|/duːn/}}, {{IPA|/rɪˈzuːm/}} and {{IPA|/ɪnˈθuːziæzm/}}. This contrasts with many [[East Anglian English|East Anglian]] and [[East Midlands English|East Midland]] varieties of [[English language in England]] and with many forms of [[American English]], including [[General American]]. In words such as ''pursuit'' and ''allure'', both pronunciations (with and without {{IPA|/j/}}) may be heard in RP, but major dictionaries only list the pronunciation with {{IPA|/j/}} for ''pursuit''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ |website=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=23 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cambridge Dictionary |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ |website=Cambridge Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=23 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English |url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/ |website=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English |publisher=Pearson Education |access-date=23 April 2025}}</ref> There are, however, several words where a yod has been lost with the passage of time: for example, the word ''suit'' originally had a yod in RP but this is now extremely rare.
* The [[flapping|flapped]] variant of {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} (as in much of the West Country, Ulster, most North American varieties including General American, Australian English, and the [[Cape Coloured]] dialect of South Africa) is not used very often. 
* RP has undergone the [[wine–whine merger|''wine''–''whine'' merger]] (so the sequence {{IPA|/hw/}} is not present except among those who have acquired this distinction as the result of speech training).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=228''ff''}} The [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]], based in London, still teaches these two sounds for international breadth as distinct phonemes. They are also distinct from one another in most of Scotland and Ireland, in the northeast of England, and in the southeastern United States.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=228''ff''}}
* Unlike some other varieties of [[English language in England]], there is no [[h-dropping|''h''-dropping]] in words like ''head'' or ''horse''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=253''ff''}} In hurried phrases such as "as hard as he could" h-dropping commonly applies to the word ''he''.
* Unlike most [[Southern Hemisphere English]] and North American English accents, RP has not undergone the [[weak vowel merger]], meaning that pairs such as ''Lenin''/''Lennon'' are distinct.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=167''ff''}}
*In traditional RP {{IPA|[ɾ]}} is an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/r/}} (it is used intervocalically after a stressed syllable, after {{IPA|/θ}}, {{IPA|ð/}} and sometimes even after {{IPA|/b}}, {{IPA|ɡ/}}).{{sfnp|Wise|1957|p=242}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2008|p=221}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger |title=Practical English Phonetics and Phonology |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-59150-9 |page=52 |edition=4th |quote="A tap was also to be heard '''intervocalically'''{{nbsp}}... from old-fashioned traditional RP speakers{{nbsp}}... It was used for /r/ after a stressed vowel, e.g. ''carry, very, Paris''."}}</ref>

==Spoken specimen==
{{listen
|type=speech
|filename=Recording of speaker of British English (Received Pronunciation).ogg
|title=Specimen of Received Pronunciation
|description=The audio recording on which the transcriptions are based
}}

The ''[[Journal of the International Phonetic Association]]'' regularly publishes "Illustrations of the IPA" which present an outline of the phonetics of a particular language or accent. It is usual to base the description on a recording of the traditional story of [[the North Wind and the Sun]]. There is an IPA illustration of British English (Received Pronunciation).

The female speaker is described as having been born in 1953 and educated at [[Oxford University]]. To accompany the recording there are three transcriptions: orthographic, phonemic and allophonic.

<blockquote>
'''Phonemic'''

{{IPA|ðə ˈnɔːθ ˈwɪnd ən ðə ˈsʌn wə dɪˈspjuːtɪŋ ˈwɪtʃ wəz ðə ˈstrɒŋɡə, wen ə ˈtrævl̩ə ˌkeɪm əˌlɒŋ ˈræpt ɪn ə ˈwɔːm ˈkləʊk. ðeɪ əˈɡriːd ðət ðə ˈwʌn hu ˈfɜːst səkˈsiːdɪd ɪn ˈmeɪkɪŋ ðə ˈtrævlə ˌteɪk hɪz ˈkləʊk ɒf ʃʊd bi kənˌsɪdəd ˈstrɒŋɡə ðən ði ˈʌðə. ˈðen ðə ˌnɔːθ wɪnd ˈbluː əz ˈhɑːd əz i ˈkʊd, bət ðə ˈmɔː hi ˈbluː ðə ˌmɔː ˈkləʊsli dɪd ðə ˈtrævlə ˈfəʊld hɪz ˌkləʊk əˈraʊnd hɪm, ænd ət ˈlɑːst ðə ˈnɔːθ wɪnd ˌɡeɪv ˈʌp ði əˈtempt. ˈðen ðə ˈsʌn ˌʃɒn aʊt ˈwɔːmli, ænd əˈmiːdiətli ðə ˈtrævlə ˈtʊk ɒf ɪz ˈkləʊk. n̩ ˌsəʊ ðə ˈnɔːθ ˈwɪn wəz əˈblaɪdʒd tʊ kənˈfes ðət ðə ˈsʌn wəz ðə ˈstrɒŋɡr̩ əv ðə ˈtuː.}}

'''Allophonic'''

{{IPA|ðə ˈnɔːθ ˈw̥ɪnd ən̪n̪ə ˈsʌn wə dɪˈspj̊u̟ːtɪŋ ˈwɪʔtʃ wəz ðə ˈstɹ̥ɒŋɡə, wen ə ˈtɹ̥ævl̩ə ˌkʰeɪm əˌlɒŋ ˈɹæptʰ ɪn ə ˈwɔːm ˈkl̥əʊkˣ. ðeɪ əˈɡɹ̥iːd̥ ð̥əʔ ðə ˈwʌn ɦu ˈfɜːs səkˈsiːdɪd ɪmˈmeɪxɪŋ ðə ˈtɹ̥ævlə ˌtʰeɪk̟x̟ɪs ˈkl̥əʊk ɒf ʃʊbbi kʰənˌsɪdəd̥ ˈstɹɒŋɡə ð̥ən̪n̪i ˈʌðə. ˈðen̪n̪ə ˌnɔːθ w̥ɪnd ˈbluː əz̥ ˈhɑːd̥ əs i ˈkʊd, bət̬ ð̥ə ˈmɔː hi ˈblu̟ː ðə ˌmɔ ˈkl̥əʊsl̥i d̥ɨd ð̥ə ˈtɹ̥æv̥lə ˈfəʊld̥ hɪz̥ ˌkl̥əʊkʰ əˈɹaʊnd hɪm, ænd ət ˈl̥ɑːst ð̥ə ˈnɔːθ w̥ɪnd ˌɡ̊eɪv̥ ˈʌp ði̥ əˈtʰemʔt. ˈðen̪n̪ə ˈsʌn ˌʃɒn aʊt ˈwɔːmli, ænd əˈmiːdiətl̥i ð̥ə ˈtɹ̥ævlə ˈtʰʊk ɒf ɪz̥ ˈkl̥əʊkˣ. n̩ ˌsəʊ ðə ˈnɔːθ ˈw̥ɪn wəz̥ əˈblaɪdʒ̊ tʰɵ kʰənˈfes ð̥əʔ ð̥ə ˈsʌn wəz̥z̥ə ˈstɹ̥ɒŋɡɹ̩ əv̥ ð̥ə ˈtʰu̟ː.}}

'''Orthographic'''

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveller came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveller take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveller fold his cloak around him, and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shone out warmly, and immediately the traveller took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.{{sfnp|Roach|2004}}
</blockquote>

==Notable speakers==
<!--READ FIRST: Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
[[File:Sir David Attenborough BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 29 Jan 2012 b01b8yy0.flac|thumb|David Attenborough's voice]]
[[File:Gyles Brandreth BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 14 January 2011 b00x8f2l.flac|thumb|Gyles Brandreth's voice]]
[[File:Stephen Fry voice.flac|thumb|Stephen Fry's voice]]
The following people have been described as RP speakers:
<!--Don't add names unless appropriately cited--><!--please follow ABC order and sort by surname-->
* The [[British royal family]]<ref name="Wells 2011">{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=the evidence of the vows |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/evidence-of-vows.html |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |date=3 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=Any young U-RP speakers? |date=11 July 2007 |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0707a.htm}}</ref>
* [[Julie Andrews]], actress and singer<ref>{{cite web |title=Twentieth-Century Divas: Julie Andrews - Dominic Broomfield-McHugh|url=https://podcast.gresham.ac.uk/1904814/episodes/15203380-twentieth-century-divas-julie-andrews-dominic-broomfield-mchugh |website=Graham College |date=6 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=EE, yet again |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-sound-of-julie-andrews-20150327-1m9e1c.html |website=The Sydney Morning Heradd |date=17 April 2015}}</ref>
* [[Rowan Atkinson]], actor, comedian and writer<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gold|first=Tanya|author-link=Tanya Gold|date=24 June 2022|title=Rowan Atkinson on Man Vs Bee, Mr Bean, Blackadder and Johnny English|url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/rowan-atkinson-interview|magazine=British GQ|publisher=Condé Nast|access-date=5 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Roger|author2=<!-- "and Staff Reports" -->|date=22 July 2003|title=A Villainous Mix from Comic Artiste Atkinson|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2003/07/22/a-villainous-mix-from-comic-artiste-atkinson/|url-access=subscription|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|publisher=Tribune Publishing|access-date=5 July 2025|quote=Born upper-middle-class, he has a distinctly upper-class accent}}</ref>
* [[David Attenborough]], broadcaster and naturalist<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=David Attenborough |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/11/david-attenborough.html |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |date=8 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="hdl.handle.net">{{cite journal |last1=Cho |first1=Juhyung |title=Vowel changes in the speech of Sir David Attenborough |journal=SNU Working Papers in English Language and Linguistics |date=1 January 2022 |volume=18 |hdl=10371/176946 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10371/176946 |access-date=18 March 2022}}</ref>
* [[Richard Attenborough]], actor and film director<ref name="hdl.handle.net"/>
* [[Tony Benn]], politician and political activist<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hatherley|first=Owen|author-link=Owen Hatherley|date=May–June 2024|title=Labourism: In and Against?|url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii147/articles/owen-hatherley-labourism-in-and-against|url-access=subscription|journal=New Left Review|issue=147|pages=151–168 |article-number=4969 |doi=10.64590/qnz |access-date=5 July 2025|quote=Benn, an archetypal English gentleman, who spoke in a booming Received Pronunciation accent}}</ref>
* [[Emily Blunt]], actress<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/35650152 |title=Emily Blunt's kids are picking up their dad's American accent |last1=Matassa |first1=Giada}}</ref>
* [[Gyles Brandreth]], broadcaster, writer and former politician<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trufluency.com/7-best-english-podcasts-free-and-paid/ |title=7 Best English Podcasts (Free and Paid) |website=TruFluency |date=23 May 2022 |access-date=3 July 2023 |quote="Gyles Brandreth and Susie Dent are the hosts of Something Rhymes with Purple,&nbsp;... the speech of the hosts tends to show features of the Received Pronunciation (RP) English accent,&nbsp;..."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gylesbrandreth.net/blog/2018/12/23/am-i-posh-is-david-dimbleby-are-you |title=Am I posh? Is David Dimbleby? Are you? |last=Brandreth |first=Gyles |date=23 December 2018 |website=GYLES BRANDRETH |access-date=3 July 2023 |quote="...{{nbsp}}I have a 'posh' accent.  In fact, I sound much less fruity and plummy than I used to do.  (So does The Queen, incidentally.)  I sound very like my father, and English middle class professional people of his generation (he was born in 1910) sounded like he sounded and I sound now."}}</ref>
* [[David Cameron]], former Prime Minister of the UK (2010–2016)<ref>{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=EE, yet again |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/04/ee-yet-again.html |website=John Wells's phonetic blog |date=8 April 2010}}</ref><ref name="palmer"/>
* [[Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire]], aristocrat and writer<ref name="woods">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8684273/When-I-didnt-know-owt-about-posh-speak.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8684273/When-I-didnt-know-owt-about-posh-speak.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=When I didn't know owt about posh speak |first=Vicki |last=Woods |date=5 August 2011 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Noël Coward]], playwright, composer and actor<ref name="radio4">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=<!-- not stated --> |title=BBC - Radio4 - Routes of English - Special - Talking Posh |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/posh.shtml |website=BBC |access-date=15 March 2025}}</ref>
* [[Alain de Botton]], writer and public speaker<ref>{{cite news|last=Chalmers|first=Robert|date=25 March 2012|title=Alain de Botton: 'My father was physically quite violent... he would destroy the house'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/alain-de-botton-my-father-was-physically-quite-violent-he-would-destroy-the-house-7580958.html|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=6 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Humphrey|first=Chris|date=1 August 2018|title=Alain de Botton Visits Vietnam: 'What I Want to Argue Is That Romanticism Has Been a Disaster for Love.'|url=https://saigoneer.com/vietnam-literature/21852-alain-de-botton-visits-vietnam-what-i-want-to-argue-is-that-romanticism-has-been-a-disaster-for-love|magazine=Saigoneer|access-date=5 July 2025}}</ref>
* [[Judi Dench]], actress<ref name="lawson">{{cite web |last=Lawson |first=Lindsey |date=14 October 2013 |url=http://www.thevoicecafe.net/the-voice-cafe-blog/the-accent-with-few-native-speakers-in-Britain-RP |title=A popular British accent with very few native speakers |work=The Voice Cafe |access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>
* [[David Dimbleby]], journalist and former presenter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/research/article/download/2075/1716/7971|title=Changes in Received Pronunciation: Diachronic Case Studies}}</ref>
* [[Rupert Everett]], actor<ref name="Wells 2008blog"/>
* [[Julian Fellowes]], actor, writer, producer, film director and politician<ref>{{cite news|last=Odone|first=Cristina|author-link=Cristina Odone|date=4 April 2004|title='Like beasts in a zoo, the upper classes no longer represent a danger'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/comment/story/0,6903,1185275,00.html|newspaper=The Observer|access-date=5 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gritten|first=David|date=7 December 2003|title=Breeding and talent? Quite|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-dec-07-ca-gritten7-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|location=Turville, England|access-date=5 July 2025}}</ref>
* [[Colin Firth]], actor<ref name="economist.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/07/06/in-british-politics-posh-pronunciation-reigns |title=In British politics, posh pronunciation reigns |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>
* [[Lady Antonia Fraser]], author and historian<ref name="woods"/>
* [[Stephen Fry]], actor and writer<ref>{{cite web |title=RP: A popular British accent with very few native speakers |date=13 October 2014 |url=https://www.thevoicecafe.net/the-voice-cafe-blog/the-accent-with-few-native-speakers-in-Britain-RP |quote=Examples of speakers of the more "conservative" type of RP are Stephen Fry and Dame Judi Dench.}}</ref>
* [[Hugh Grant]], actor<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/accents_comments.shtml |title=BBC - Voices - Your Voice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/parsons_ma.pdf |title=From "RP" to "Estuary English": The concept 'received' and the debate about British pronunciation standards}}</ref>
* [[Tom Hiddleston]], actor<ref name="palmer">{{cite news |last=Palmer |first=Bobby |date=23 March 2016 |title=We asked a psychologist why people find posh accents attractive |url=https://archive.thetab.com/2016/03/23/asked-psychologist-love-posh-accents-80094 |website=[[The Tab]] |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref>
* [[Christopher Hitchens]], author and journalist<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dialectblog.com/british-accents/ |title=British Accents |date=25 January 2011 |work=dialectblog.com}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=blog|date=October 2025}}
* [[Jeremy Irons]], actor<ref>{{cite web|title=Standard Upper-Class British(RP)|url=http://currentplayers.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/0/13500082/20141222155724020.pdf}}</ref>
* [[Boris Johnson]], former Prime Minister of the UK (2019–2022)<ref name="Wells 2008blog">{{cite web |last=Wells |first=John |title=RP back in fashion? |date=12 June 2008a |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0806a.htm}}</ref>
* [[Celia Johnson]], actress<ref name="fowler">{{cite web |last=Fowler |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Fowler |date=16 October 2020 |title=Accent! |url=https://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/2020/10/16/accent |website=Christopher Fowler website |access-date=15 March 2025}}</ref>
* [[Vanessa Kirby]], actress<ref name="lawson"/>
* [[Gertrude Lawrence]], actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer<ref name="radio4"/>
* [[Nigella Lawson]], food writer and television cook<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=10 December 2020 |title=Nigella Lawson is going viral for the bizarre way she pronounces "microwave" |url=https://www.thecoast.net.nz/news/nigella-lawson-is-going-viral-for-the-bizarre-way-she-pronounces-microwave/ |website=thecoast.net.nz |access-date=15 March 2025 |quote=She's known for her impeccably posh British accent}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Nigella |date=24 December 2000 |title=English as it is spoke |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec/24/britishidentity.comment |work=The Guardian |access-date=15 March 2025 |quote=When I was a child, my accent, for example, was Received Pronunciation; now I am given to understand it is posh. I can live with that.}}</ref>
* [[Christopher Lee]], actor<ref>{{cite web|title=Standard Upper-Class British(RP)|url=http://currentplayers.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/0/13500082/20141222155724020.pdf}}</ref>
* [[Jan Leeming]], television presenter and newsreader<ref>{{cite news |last=Sigsworth |first=Tim |date=10 April 2024 |title=Former BBC newsreader blames 'RP' accent for no longer getting work |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/10/former-bbc-newsreader-blames-rp-accent-for-lack-of-work/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref>
* [[Rose Leslie]], actress<ref>{{cite news |last=Wise |first=Louis |date=6 December 2015 |title=A queen of her castle |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/a-queen-of-her-castle-g75xcn97w |work=The Sunday Times |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Garratt |first=Sheryl |date=3 September 2016 |title=Rose Leslie on finding love on Game of Thrones and making it in Hollywood |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/09/03/rose-leslie-on-finding-love-on-game-of-thrones-and-making-it-in/ |url-access=limited |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 March 2025 |quote=her shifting accent got fixed into a cut-glass RP English}}</ref>
* [[Joanna Lumley]], actress<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stadlen |first=Matthew |date=10 July 2015 |title=Joanna Lumley: I'm not posh - and I eat like a horse |work=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11731188/joanna-lumley-acting-interview-drama.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11731188/joanna-lumley-acting-interview-drama.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2020 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Theresa May]], former Prime Minister of the UK (2016–2019)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://resource.download.wjec.co.uk/vtc/2017-18/17-18_1-9/pdf/teacher-notes.pdf |title=English Language Accent and Dialect Resources |website=WJEC}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/00754242211046316 |title=Accent Bias and Perceptions of Professional Competence in England |date=2021 |last1=Levon |first1=Erez |last2=Sharma |first2=Devyani |last3=Watt |first3=Dominic J. L. |last4=Cardoso |first4=Amanda |last5=Ye |first5=Yang |journal=Journal of English Linguistics |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=355–388|url=https://boris.unibe.ch/159633/}}</ref>
* [[Helen Mirren]], actress<ref>Klaus J. Kohler (2017) "Communicative Functions and Linguistic Forms in Speech Interaction", published by CUP (page 268)</ref>
* [[Carey Mulligan]], actress<ref name="lawson"/>
* [[Laurence Olivier]], actor and director<ref name="fowler"/>
* [[Jeremy Paxman]], broadcaster and TV presenter<ref name="woods"/>
* [[Eddie Redmayne]], actor<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30937165 |title=Barrie Rutter on giving King Lear a Yorkshire accent |work=BBC News |date=27 February 2015}}</ref>
* [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]], former leader of the House of Commons (2019–2022)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40554137 |title=Labour MP Angela Rayner: 'I'm proud of my accent' |work=BBC News |quote=Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg struggled with his "posh RP [received pronunciation] accent" when he was trying to get elected in Fife. |date=10 July 2017 |access-date=9 February 2021}}</ref>
* [[Brian Sewell]], art critic<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/accent2.shtml |title=Voices - Your Voice |website=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://i-m-magazine.com/brian-sewell/ |title=Brian Sewell |access-date=5 December 2022 |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205075947/https://i-m-magazine.com/brian-sewell/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Rupert Sheldrake]], author and [[parapsychological]] researcher<ref>{{cite magazine|last=McAleer|first=Graham|date=25 October 2018|title=Russell Rebrand|url=https://lawliberty.org/russell-rebrand/|magazine=Law & Liberty|access-date=29 June 2025|quote=the extremely clipped Oxbridge English of Sheldrake}}</ref>
* [[Maggie Smith]], actress<ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Pottet and the Different Accents|url=https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/handle/1956/6703/106842369.pdf?sequence=1}}</ref>
* [[Patrick Stewart]], actor<ref name="fowler"/>
* [[Edward Stourton (journalist)|Edward Stourton]], broadcaster and journalist<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/11140150/A-posh-RP-voice-can-break-down-barriers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/11140150/A-posh-RP-voice-can-break-down-barriers.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=A 'posh' RP voice can break down barriers |first=Glenda |last=Cooper |date=4 October 2014 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Margaret Thatcher]], former Prime Minister of the UK (1979–1990)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-22183566 |title=Has Beckham started talking posh? |date=17 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
* [[Emma Thompson]], actress<ref>{{cite web |title=Received Pronunciation AKA Standard British |url=http://raleighlittletheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Lion-Witch-Wardrobe-dialect-guide.pdf}}</ref><ref name="economist.com"/>
* [[Phoebe Waller-Bridge]], actress, screenwriter and producer<ref name="fowler"/>
* [[Emma Watson]], actress<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nolan |first1=Dave |last2=Nolan |first2=David |title=Emma Watson: The Biography |date=24 November 2011 |publisher=Kings Road Publishing |isbn=978-1-84358-871-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSGtDwAAQBAJ&dq=emma+watson+received+pronunciation&pg=PT34 |quote="Emma speaks her lines with crystal-clear received pronunciation..."}}</ref>
* [[Justin Welby]], former Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2025)<ref name="Wells 2011"/>
* [[Rowan Williams]], former Archbishop of Canterbury (2002–2012)<ref name="Wells 2011"/>

== See also ==
* [[Accent perception]]
* [[English language spelling reform]]
* [[Good American Speech]]
* [[Linguistic prescription]]
* [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)]]
* [[The King's English]]
* [[U and non-U English]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{citation |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger M. |year=2003 |orig-year=First published 1981 |title=The Phonetics of English and Dutch |edition=5th |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=9004103406}}
* {{citation |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger |year=2013 |orig-year=First published 2003 |title=Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students |edition=3rd |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-50650-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faVJTQIw9eQC}}
* {{citation |last=Cruttenden |first=Alan |year=2008 |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |publisher=Hodder |location=London |edition=7th |isbn=978-0340958773}}
* {{citation |last=Cruttenden |first=Alan |year=2014 |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |publisher=Routledge |edition=8th |isbn=9781444183092 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2nMAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{citation |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |year=2003 |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=2nd |isbn=0-521-53033-4}}
* {{citation |last=Crystal |first=David |title=The Stories of English |year=2005 |publisher=Penguin}}
* {{citation |last=DuPonceau |first=Peter S. |author-link=Peter DuPonceau |year=1818 |chapter=English phonology; or, An essay towards an analysis and description of the component sounds of the English language. |title=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=1 |pages=259–264}}
* {{citation |last=Ellis |first=Alexander J. |author-link=Alexander John Ellis |year=1869 |title=On early English pronunciation |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=New York, (1968)}}
* {{citation |last=Elmes |first=Simon |year=2005 |title=Talking for Britain: A journey through the voices of our nation |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-051562-3}}
* {{citation |doi=10.2307/324550 |last=Fishman |first=Joshua |title="Standard" versus "Dialect" in Bilingual Education: An Old Problem in a New Context |journal=The Modern Language Journal |volume=61 |issue=7 |pages=315–325 |year=1977 |jstor=324550}}
* {{citation |last=Gimson |first=Alfred C. |author-link=Alfred C. Gimson |year=1970 |title=An Introduction to the pronunciation of English |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold}}
* {{citation |last=Gimson |first=Alfred C. |year=1980 |title=Pronunciation of English |edition=3rd}}
* {{citation |last1=Gupta |first1=Anthea Fraser |title=Baths and becks |journal=English Today |volume=21 |issue=1 |year=2005 |pages=21–27 |issn=0266-0784 |doi=10.1017/S0266078405001069 |s2cid=54620954 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/1810/1/guptaaf2.pdf}}
* {{citation |last1=Halle |first1=Morris |last2=Mohanan |first2=K. P. |title=Segmental Phonology of Modern English |year=1985 |journal=Linguistic Inquiry |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=57–116 |publisher=The MIT Press |jstor=4178420}}
* {{citation |doi=10.1017/S0022226700007052 |last=Hudson |first=Richard |year=1981 |title=Some Issues on Which Linguists Can Agree |journal=Journal of Linguistics |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=333–343 |s2cid=144125788}}
* {{citation |author=International Phonetic Association |title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521637510}}
* {{citation |last=Jenkins |first=Jennifer |year=2000 |title=The Phonology of English as an International Language |publisher=Oxford}}
* {{citation |last=Jones |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Jones (phonetician) |year=1917 |title=English Pronouncing Dictionary |publisher=Dent |place=London |edition=1st}}
* {{citation |last=Jones |first=Daniel |year=1926 |title=English Pronouncing Dictionary |edition=2nd}}
* {{citation |last=Jones |first=Daniel |year=1967 |title=An Outline of English Phonetics |edition=9th |publisher=Heffer}}
* {{citation |last=Jones |first=Daniel |editor1-last=Roach |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Setter |editor2-first=Jane |editor3-last=Esling |editor3-first=John |year=2011 |title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=18th}}
* {{citation |last1=de Jong |first1=Gea |last2=McDougall |first2=Kirsty |last3=Hudson |first3=Toby |last4=Nolan |first4=Francis |year=2007 |chapter=The speaker discriminating power of sounds undergoing historical change: A formant-based study |title=the Proceedings of ICPhS Saarbrücken |pages=1813–1816}}
* {{citation |last=Ladefoged |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=Vowels and Consonants |publisher=Thomson}}
* {{citation |last=Lindsey |first=Geoff |author-link=Geoff Lindsey |year=2019 |title=English After RP: Standard British Pronunciation Today |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-04356-8}}
* {{citation |last=Lodge |first=Ken |year=2009 |title=A Critical Introduction to Phonetics |publisher=Continuum}}
* {{citation |last=McArthur |first=Tom |title=The Oxford Guide to World English |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{citation |doi=10.2307/373636 |last=McDavid |first=Raven I. |year=1965 |title=American Social Dialects |journal=College English |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=254–260 |jstor=373636}}
* {{citation |last=Mugglestone |first=Lynda |year=2003 |title='Talking Proper': The Rise of Accent as Social Symbol |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{citation |last=Newbrook |first=Mark |editor1-last=Foulkes |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Docherty |editor2-first=Gerald J. |chapter=West Wirral: norms, self-reports and usage |title=Urban Voices |year=1999 |pages=90–106}}
* {{citation |last=Pearce |first=Michael |title=The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies |year=2007 |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{citation |editor-last=Pearsall |editor-first=Judy |title=The Concise Oxford English Dictionary |year=1999 |edition=10th}}
* {{citation |last=Petyt |first=K. M. |title=Dialect and Accent in Industrial West Yorkshire |year=1985 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing}}
* {{citation |last=Ramsaran |first=Susan |chapter=RP: fact and fiction |title=Studies in the Pronunciation of English: A commemorative volume in honour of A. C. Gimson |year=1990 |pages=178–190 |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{citation |doi=10.1017/S0025100304001768 |last=Roach |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=British English: Received Pronunciation |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=239–245 |s2cid=144338519 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/D4AFF0A7118E7081ACF7C7586FF87590/S0025100304001768a.pdf/british_english_received_pronunciation.pdf |doi-access=free}}
* {{citation |last=Roach |first=Peter |title=English Phonetics and Phonology |edition=4th |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-40718-2}}
* {{Citation |last=Roach |first=Peter |year=2011 |title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary |edition=18th |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521152532}}
* {{citation |last1=Roca |first1=Iggy |last2=Johnson |first2=Wyn |year=1999 |title=A Course in Phonology |publisher=Blackwell Publishing}}
* {{citation |last=Rogaliński |first=Paweł |year=2011 |title=British Accents: Cockney, RP, Estuary English |place=Łódź |isbn=978-83-272-3282-3}}
* {{citation |last=Schmitt |first=Holger |year=2007 |title=The case for the epsilon symbol ({{IPA|ɛ}}) in RP DRESS |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=321–328 |doi=10.1017/S0025100307003131 |s2cid=143444452}}
* {{citation |last=Shockey |first=Linda |year=2003 |title=Sound Patterns of Spoken English |publisher=Blackwell}}
* {{citation |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Trudgill |year=1999 |title=The Dialects of England |publisher=Blackwell}}
* {{citation |last=Upton |first=Clive |author-link=Clive Upton |chapter=Received Pronunciation |title=A Handbook of Varieties of English |year=2004 |pages=217–230 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter}}
* {{citation |last1=Upton |first1=Clive |last2=Kretzschmar |first2=William A. |last3=Konopka |first3=Rafal |year=2001 |title=Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}
* {{citation |doi=10.1017/S0022226700002632 |last=Wells |first=John C. |author-link=John C. Wells |year=1970 |title=Local accents in England and Wales |journal=Journal of Linguistics |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=231–252 |s2cid=143523909}}
* {{citation |last=Wells |first=John C. |title=Accents of English I: An Introduction |location=Cambridge, New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=0-521-29719-2}}
* {{citation |last=Wells |first=John C. |year=2008 |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |edition=3rd |publisher=Longman |isbn=9781405881180}}
* {{citation |last=Wiik |first=K. |year=1965 |title=Finnish and English Vowels |publisher=Annales Universitatis Turkensis |series=B |volume=94}}
* {{citation |last=Wikström |first=Jussi |year=2013 |title=An acoustic study of the RP English LOT and THOUGHT vowels |pages=37–47 |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |volume=43 |issue=1 |doi=10.1017/S0025100312000345 |s2cid=146863401}}
* {{citation |last=Wise |first=Claude Merton |title=Introduction to phonetics |location=Englewood Cliffs |year=1957}}
* {{citation |last=Wright |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Wright (linguist) |year=1905 |title=English Dialect Grammar}}
* {{citation |last=Wyld |first=Henry C. K. |author-link=H. C. Wyld |year=1927 |title=A short history of English |edition=3rd |publisher=Murray |location=London}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/posh.shtml BBC page on Upper RP as spoken by the English upper-classes]
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ Sounds Familiar?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722181432/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ |date=22 July 2019}}{{spaced ndash}}Listen to examples of received pronunciation on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
* [http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/Eng/Direct/Englishes/SglLgRPStandard.htm 'Hover & Hear' R.P.], and compare it with other accents from the UK and around the World.
* [http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/rphappened.htm Whatever happened to Received Pronunciation?] – An article by the phonetician [[John C. Wells|J. C. Wells]] about received pronunciation

'''Sources of regular comment on RP'''
* [http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/ John Wells's phonetic blog]
* [http://www.linguism.co.uk/ ''Linguism – Language in a word'', blog by Graham Pointon of the BBC Pronunciation Unit]

'''Audio files'''
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/blagdon-hall/ Blagdon Hall, Northumberland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718223041/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/blagdon-hall/ |date=18 July 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/burnham-thorpe/ Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519031013/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/burnham-thorpe/ |date=19 May 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ Harrow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706175144/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ |date=6 July 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/hexam/ Hexham, Northumberland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716064806/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/hexam/ |date=16 July 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/london/ London] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720082157/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/london/ |date=20 July 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/newport/ Newport, Pembrokeshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722142155/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/newport/ |date=22 July 2019}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/teddington/ Teddington] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712184043/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/teddington/ |date=12 July 2019}}

{{English dialects by continent}}
{{Language phonologies}}

[[Category:English language in England]]
[[Category:Standard English]]
[[Category:Standard languages]]