Received Pronunciation has been the subject of many academic studies,[2] and is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners.[3][page needed] The widely repeated claim that only about two percent of Britons speak RP[2] is no more than a rough estimate and has been questioned by several writers, most notably by the phoneticianJack Windsor Lewis.[4]
Rhoticity – GA is rhotic while RP isnon-rhotic; that is, the phoneme/r/ is only pronounced in RP when it is immediately followed by a vowel sound.[5] Where GA pronounces/r/ before a consonant and at the end of an utterance, RP either has no consonant (if the preceding vowel is/ɔː/,/ɜ:/ or/ɑː/, as inbore,burr andbar) or has aschwa instead (the resulting sequences beingdiphthongs ortriphthongs). This leads to several RPmergers characteristic of non-rhotic accents, whereas GA maintains these distinctions. Similarly, where GA hasr-colored vowels (/ər/ or/ɜr/, as in "cupboard" or "bird"), RP has plain vowels/ə/ or/ɜː/. The "intrusive R" of many RP speakers (in such sequences as "the idea-r-of it") is absent in GA; this is a consequence of the rhotic/non-rhotic distinction.
Thetrap–bath split has resulted in RP having the back unrounded open vowel/ɑː/ in many words where GA has a front open unrounded vowel/æ/; this RP vowel occurs typically (but not always) when followed by:
/æ/ is usuallytensed before/m/,/n/, and sometimes/ŋ/ in GA; in other words,rap is[ɹæp] butram is[ɹɛəm].[7]
Many foreign names and loanwords spelled with⟨a⟩ use/æ/ in RP but/ɑː/ in GA, such askebab,pasta,macho, andtaco.[8] In a small number of words, these phonemes are exactly reversed in the two dialects, such asbanana,khaki, andPakistan.
RP has threeopenback vowels, where GA has only two or even one. GA speakers use/ɑ/ for both the RP/ɒ/ (spot) and/ɑː/ (spa): thefather–bother merger.
Nearly half of American speakers additionally use the same vowel for the RP/ɔː/ (thecot–caught merger).
While thelot–cloth split is no longer found in RP, it is found in those GA speakers who do not have the cot–caught merger (which otherwise neutralizes this split). This results in/ɔ/ in some words which now have/ɒ/ in RP, particularly before voiceless fricatives and sometimes before/ɡ/ (where it is always/ɒ/ in RP, both older and contemporary). This is reflected in the "eye dialect" spelling "dawg" fordog.
"Longo" and "shorto" before intervocalic /r/ have merged in American English. Thus "moral" and "oral" rhyme in GA (/ˈ(m)ɔrəl/), while in RP they do not rhyme, being pronounced/ˈmɒrəl/ and/ˈɔːrəl/, respectively.
RP has a marked degree of contrast of length between "short" and "long" vowels (the long vowels being the diphthongs plus/iː/,/uː/,/ɜː/,/ɔː/, and/ɑː/). In GA this contrast is somewhat less evident andnon-phonemic, so the IPA length symbol (ː) is often omitted.
The "longo" (as inboat) is realised differently: GA back first element[oʊ]; RP central first element[əʊ]. However, there is considerable variation in this vowel on both sides of the Atlantic.
The distinction between unstressed/ɪ/ and/ə/ islost in GA, while in RP it is retained. Thus in RP,edition/ɪˈdɪʃən/ andaddition/əˈdɪʃən/ are not homophones.
In GA,flapping is common: when either a/t/ or a/d/ occurs between asonorant phoneme and anunstressed vowel phoneme, it is realized as analveolar-flapallophone[ɾ]. This sounds like a/d/ to RP speakers.[ɾ] is an allophone of/r/ in conservative RP. The degree of flapping varies considerably among speakers, and is often reduced in more formal settings. It does occur to an extent in nearly all speakers of American English, withbetter pronounced with a flap almost ubiquitously regardless of background. Pronouncing the t would be considered overly formal. This does not mean it always completely merges withbedder, as/ɛ/ in the latter can be somewhat longer than inbetter.
Yod-dropping occurs in GA at the onset of stressed syllables after allalveolar consonants, including/t/,/d/,/θ/,/s/,/z/,/n/,/l/;[9] i.e. historic/juː/ (from spellingsu,ue,eu,ew), is pronounced/u/. In contrast, RP speakers:
always retain/j/ after/n/: e.g.new is RP/njuː/, GA/nu/;
retain orcoalesce it after/t/,/d/: e.g.due is RP/djuː/ or/dʒuː/, GA/du/;
retain or drop it after/θ/,/l/: e.g.allude is RP/əˈljuːd/ or (as GA)/əˈlud/;
retain, coalesce in stressed or unstressed syllables, or drop it after/s/,/z/: e.g.assume is RP/əˈsjuːm/, or (as GA)/əˈsum/.
RP speakers also drop theyod especially incoupon andPulitzer as/ˈkuːpɒn/ and/ˈpʊlɪtsə/ respectively, but many GA speakers retain it, becoming/ˈkjuːpɒn/ and/ˈpjuːlɪtsər/, althoughPulitzer with theyod is widely incorrect.[10][11]
Yod-coalescence occur in both GA and RP in unstressed syllables or after a stressed vowel. RP however more often retains theyod, especially in carefully enunciated forms of words. For example,issue is RP/ˈɪsjuː/ or (as GA)/ˈɪʃu/,graduate may be carefully enunciated in RP as/ˈɡradjʊeɪt/, butnature is always coalesced/ˈneɪtʃə(r)/.[12] In both GA and RP, however, the sounds of word-final/d/,/s/,/t/, and/z/ (spelled eithers orz) can coalesce with the sound of word-initial/j/ (spelledu ory) across word boundaries in casual or rapid speech, becoming/dʒ/,/ʃ/,/tʃ/, and/ʒ/ respectively, thusthis year (/ˈðɪʃɪə(r)/) can sound likethi(s) shear/sheer. This is also found in other English accents.
For some GA speakers from any U.S. region whose accents are derived from, or similar to, those that originate especially inCalifornia, otherWestern states, and even Midwestern areas, including theUpper Midwest, the unstressed I in-ing (/ɪŋ/) is tensed (i.e., raised) and the G is dropped, so that-ing is enunciated to sound likeean (as inmean),een, orene (as inscene;[in]),[13][14] thuscoding is similar tocodeine (/ˈkoʊdin/), akin to how "in" is typically pronounced by speakers fromAustralia, where the target for/ɪ/ is closer to cardinal[i],[15] orRomance languages-speaking countries likeFrance andSpain, whether as a standalone word or a syllable, but shorter than the long vowel ofbean or the traditional RP pronunciation ofbeen ([iːn]). However, this pronunciation is considered incorrect, but it had already been widespread in American television as early as 1990 and was described in that year'sOrlando Sentinel article as a "corruption of the language"[16] so that it has been either unconventional or nonexistent in RP.
For some RP speakers (upper class), unlike in GA, some or all oftyre (tire),tower, andtar are homophones; this reflects themerger of the relevant vowels.[17]
The voiceless stops /t/, /p/, and /k/ have a stronger aspiration in RP.[citation needed]
Most General American accents, but not British ones, have undergone vowel mergers before /r/: thenearer–mirror andhurry–furry mergers, and some variation of theMary–marry–merry merger, a total three-way merger being the most common throughout North America.[18]
Disyllabic laxing is more common in American than in British English, with a short vowel in GA and a long vowel in RP in such words asera,patent andlever.[citation needed]
^Boberg, Charles (Spring 2001). "Phonological Status of Western New England".American Speech, Volume 76, Number 1. pp. 3-29 (Article). Duke University Press. p. 11: "The vowel /æ/ is generally tensed and raised [...] only before nasals, a raising environment for most speakers of North American English".
^Metcalf 2000, p. 143: "Another pronunciation even more widely heard among older teens and adults in California and throughout the West is 'een' for -ing, as in 'I'm think-een of go-een camp-een.'"
^Hunter & Johnson 2009, p. 92: "Regional Accents" – "A distinguishing characteristic of the Upper Midwestern accent is the tendency to turn the 'ing' sound into 'een,' with a cheerful 'Good morneen!'"
Wells, John C. (1997)."Whatever happened to Received Pronunciation?". In Medina, Carmelo; Soto, Palomo (eds.).Il Jornadas de Estudios Ingleses. Universidad de Jaén. pp. 19–28. Retrieved28 January 2015.
