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'''Received Pronunciation''' ('''RP'''), also called the '''Queen's''' (or '''King's''') '''English''', '''Oxford English''' or '''BBC English''', is the [[Accent (linguistics)|accent]] of [[Standard English]] in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms. RP is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as "the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England", but some have argued that it can be heard from native speakers throughout England and Wales. Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors have given Received Pronunciation particular [[prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]] in parts of Britain. It has thus been the accent of those with power, money and influence since the early to mid 20th century, though it has more recently been criticised as a symbol of undeserved privilege. However, since the 1960s, a greater permissiveness towards allowing regional English varieties has taken hold in education and the media in Britain; in some contexts conservative RP is now perceived negatively.
==History==
The introduction of the term ''Received Pronunciation'' is usually credited to [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]] after his comment in 1917 "In what follows I call it Received Pronunciation (abbreviation RP), for want of a better term."
However, the expression had actually been used much earlier by [[Alexander John Ellis|Alexander Ellis]] in 1869
and [[Peter DuPonceau]] in 1818 (the term used by [[H. C. Wyld|Henry C. K. Wyld]] in 1927 was "received standard").
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''{{ndash}} as in "[[wiktionary:received wisdom|received wisdom]]".
The reference to this pronunciation as Oxford English is because it was traditionally the common speech of Oxford University; the production of dictionaries gave Oxford University prestige in matters of language. The extended versions of the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' give Received Pronunciation guidelines for each word.
RP is an [[accent (linguistics)|accent]] (a form of [[pronunciation]]) and a [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]], rather than a [[dialect]] (a form of vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation). It may show a great deal about the social and educational background of a person who uses English. Anyone using RP will typically speak [[Standard English]] although the reverse is not necessarily true (e.g. the standard language may be pronounced with a regional accent, such as a [[Yorkshire accent]]; but it is very unlikely that someone speaking RP would use it to speak [[Scots language|Scots]]).
RP is often believed to be based on the Southern accents of England, but it actually has most in common with the [[Early Modern English]] dialects of the [[East Midlands]]. This was the most populated and most prosperous area of England during the 14th and 15th centuries. By the end of the 15th century, "Standard English" was established in the City of London. A mixture of London speech with elements from East Midlands, [[Middlesex]] and [[Essex]], became known as Received Pronunciation.
===Alternative names===
Some linguists have used the concept of RP but dismissed the name as too politically-loaded. The Cambridge-published English Pronunciation Dictionary (aimed at those learning English as a foreign language) uses the term "BBC English", 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. The phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis frequently criticises the name "Received Pronunciation" on his blog: he has called it "invidious", a "ridiculously archaic, parochial and question-begging term" and argued that American scholars find the term "quite curious". He used the term "General British" [to parallel "General American"] in his 1970s publications of ''A Concise Pronouncing Dictionary of American and British English''. Beverley Collins and Inger Mees use the phrase "Non-Regional Pronunciation" for what is often otherwise called RP, and reserve the phrase "Received Pronunciation" for the "upper-class speech of the twentieth century".
==Usage==
Researchers{{who?|date=November 2011}} generally distinguish between three different forms of RP: Conservative, General, and Advanced. Conservative RP refers to a traditional accent associated with older speakers with certain social backgrounds; General RP is often considered neutral regarding age, occupation, or lifestyle of the speaker; and Advanced RP refers to speech of a younger generation of speakers.
The modern style of RP is an accent often taught to non-native speakers learning British English. Non-RP Britons abroad may modify their pronunciation to something closer to Received Pronunciation in order to be understood better by people unfamiliar with the diversity of British accents. They may also modify their [[vocabulary]] and [[grammar]] to be closer to [[Standard English]], for the same reason. RP is often used as the standard for English in most books on general [[phonology]] and [[phonetics]] and is represented in the pronunciation schemes of most dictionaries published in the United Kingdom.
===In dictionaries===
Daniel Jones transcribed RP pronunciations of all common words in his ''English Pronouncing Dictionary''. This is still being published by Cambridge University Press, and is now edited by [[Peter Roach]]. There are two other pronunciation dictionaries in common use: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, complied by [[John C Wells]], and the Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English, compiled by [[Clive Upton]]. There are differences amongst the dictionaries. One of the most prominent differences is Clive Upton's inclusion of {{IPA|/a/}} in BATH words within RP.
RP is also used in online dictionaries, such as [[Wiktionary]] and howjsay.com.
==Status==
Traditionally, Received Pronunciation was the "everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons whose men-folk [had] been educated at the great public boarding-schools" and which conveyed no information about that speaker's region of origin prior to attending the school.
:''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.''
:A. Burrell, ''Recitation. A Handbook for Teachers in Public Elementary School'', 1891.
In the 19th century, there were still British prime ministers who spoke with some regional features, such as [[William Ewart Gladstone]]. From the 1970s onwards, attitudes towards Received Pronunciation have been changing slowly. The BBC's use of announcers with strong regional accents, such as Yorkshire-born Wilfred Pickles, during World War II (in order to distinguish BBC broadcasts from German propaganda) is an earlier example of the use of non-RP accents.
Although admired in some circles, RP is disliked in others. It is common in parts of Britain to regard it as a south-eastern English accent rather than a non-regional one and as a symbol of the south-east's political power in Britain. A 2007 survey found that residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland tend to dislike RP. It is shunned by some with left-wing political views, who may be proud of having an accent more typical of the working-classes. The left-wing British band [[Chumbawamba]] recorded a song protesting against the accent: "R.I.P. RP" from their album ''[[The Boy Bands Have Won]]''.
===Consonants===
When consonants appear in pairs, ''fortis'' consonants (i.e. [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] or voiceless) appear on the left and ''lenis'' consonants (i.e. lightly voiced or voiced) appear on the right
{| class="wikitable"
|+Consonant phonemes of Received Pronunciation
!
![[bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[labiodental consonant|Labio-
dental]]
![[dental consonant|Dental]]
![[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[postalveolar consonant|Post-
alveolar]]
![[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[velar consonant|Velar]]
![[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align=center
![[nasal consonant|Nasal]]1
| {{IPA|m}}
|
|
| {{IPA|n}}
|
|
| {{IPA|ŋ}}
|
|- align=center
![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| {{IPA|p b}}
|
|
| {{IPA|t d}}
|
|
| {{IPA|k ɡ}}
|
|- align=center
![[affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|
|
|
|
| {{IPA|tʃ dʒ}}
|
|
|
|- align=center
![[fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA|f v}}
| {{IPA|θ ð}}2
| {{IPA|s z}}
| {{IPA|ʃ ʒ}}
|
|
| {{IPA|h}}3
|- align=center
![[approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
|
|
| colspan=2|{{IPA|ɹ}}1, 4
| {{IPA|j}}
| {{IPA|w}}
|
|- align=center
![[lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|
|
| {{IPA|l}}1, 5
|
|
|
|
|}
# Nasals and [[liquid consonant|liquids]] may be [[Syllabic consonant|syllabic]] in unstressed syllables.
# {{IPA|/ð/}} is more often a weak dental plosive; the sequence {{IPA|/nð/}} is often realised as {{IPA|[n̪n̪]}}.
# {{IPA|/h/}} becomes {{IPA|[ɦ]}} between [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] sounds.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}
# {{IPA|/ɹ/}} is postalveolar unless devoicing results in a voiceless fricative articulation (see below).
# {{IPA|/l/}} is [[velarisation|velarised]] in the syllable coda.
Unless preceded by {{IPA|/s/}}, [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]] plosives ({{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}}) are aspirated before stressed vowels; when a sonorant {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/ɹ/}}, {{IPA|/w/}}, or {{IPA|/j/}} follows, this aspiration is indicated by partial devoicing of the sonorant.
Syllable finals {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}} are either preceded by a [[glottal stop]] (see [[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|[bɪʔn̩]}}). The glottal stop may be realised as [[creaky voice]]; thus a true phonetic transcription of ''attempt'' {{IPA|[əˈtʰemʔt]}} would be {{IPA|[əˈtʰemm̰t]}}.
===Vowels===
[[Image:RP English monophthongs chart.svg|thumb|monophthongs of RP. From {{Harvcoltxt|Roach|2004|p=242}}]]
[[Image:RP English diphthongs chart.svg|thumb| diphthongs of RP. From {{Harvcoltxt|Roach|2004|p=242}}]]
{|class="wikitable"
|+ [[Monophthong]]s
! rowspan=2|
! colspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan=2|[[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!long
!short
!long
!short
!long
!short
|- align=center
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|iː}}
| {{IPA|ɪ}}
|
|
| {{IPA|uː}}
| {{IPA|ʊ}}
|- align=center
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|
| {{IPA|e}}{{ref|e|*}}
| {{IPA|ɜː}}
| {{IPA|ə}}
| {{IPA|ɔː}}
|
|- align=center
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| {{IPA|æ}}
|
| {{IPA|ʌ}}
| {{IPA|ɑː}}
| {{IPA|ɒ}}
|}
{{note|e|*}} While most dictionary publishers use {{IPA|/e/}}, the actual realisation is {{IPA|[ɛ~e̞]}}.
Examples of [[short vowel]]s: {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in ''k'''i'''t'', ''m'''i'''rror'' and ''rabb'''i'''t'', {{IPA|/ʊ/}} in ''p'''u'''t'', {{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'''''.
Examples of [[long vowel]]s: {{IPA|/iː/}} in ''fl'''ee'''ce'', {{IPA|/uː/}} in ''g'''oo'''se'', {{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''.
RP's long vowels are slightly [[diphthong]]ised. Especially the [[high vowel]]s {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}} which are often narrowly transcribed in phonetic literature as diphthongs {{IPA|[ɪi]}} and {{IPA|[ʊu]}}.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}
"Long" and "short" are relative to each other. Because of phonological process affecting vowel length, short vowels in one context can be longer than long vowels in another context. For example, a long vowel followed by a [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]] consonant sound ({{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/k/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, etc.) is shorter; ''reed'' is thus pronounced {{IPA|[ɹiːd̥]}} while ''heat'' is {{IPA|[hiʔt]}}.{{Citation needed|date=January 2007}}
Conversely, the short vowel {{IPA|/æ/}} becomes longer if it is followed by a [[Fortis and lenis|lenis]] consonant. Thus, ''bat'' is pronounced {{IPA|[b̥æʔt]}} and ''bad'' is {{IPA|[b̥æːd̥]}}. In natural speech, the plosives {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} may be unreleased utterance-finally, thus distinction between these words would rest mostly on vowel length.
In addition to such length distinctions, 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]}}). 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]]) is not as universal.
{| class="wikitable"
|- align=center
! [[Diphthong]]
! colspan=2 |Example
|- align=center
! colspan=3| Closing
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/eɪ/}}||{{IPA|/beɪ/}}||bay
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/aɪ/}}||{{IPA|/baɪ/}}||buy
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/ɔɪ/}}|||{{IPA|/bɔɪ/}}||boy
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/əʊ/}}||{{IPA|/bəʊ/}}||beau
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/aʊ/}}||{{IPA|/baʊ/}}||bough
|- align=center
! colspan=3| Centring
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/ɪə/}}||{{IPA|/bɪə/}}||beer
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/eə/}}||{{IPA|/beə/}}||bear
|- align=center
|{{IPA|/ʊə/}}||{{IPA|/bʊə/}}||boor
|}
Before World War II, {{IPA|/ɔə/}} appeared in words like ''door'' but this has largely merged with {{IPA|/ɔː/}}. "Poor" traditionally had {{IPA|/ʊə/}} (and is still listed with only this pronunciation by the OED), but a realisation with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} has become more common, see [[Pour–poor merger|poor–pour merger]].
In the closing diphthongs, the [[glide (linguistics)|glide]] is often so small as to be undetectable so that ''day'' and ''dare'' can be narrowly transcribed as {{IPA|[d̥e̞ː]}} and {{IPA|[d̥ɛː]}} respectively.
RP also possesses the [[triphthong]]s {{IPA|/aɪə/}} as in ''ire'' and {{IPA|/aʊə/}} as in ''hour''. Different possible realisations of these diphthongs are indicated in the following table: furthermore, the difference between {{IPA|/aʊə/}}, {{IPA|/aɪə/}}, and {{IPA|/ɑː/}} may be [[Archiphoneme|neutralised]] with both realised as {{IPA|[ɑː]}} or {{IPA|[äː]}}.
{|class="wikitable"
|+ '''[[Triphthong]]s'''
! As two syllables
! Triphthong
! Loss of mid-element
! Further simplified as
|-
| align=center | {{IPA|[aɪ.ə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[aɪə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[aːə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[aː]}}
|-
| align=center | {{IPA|[ɑʊ.ə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[ɑʊə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[ɑːə]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[ɑː]}}
|}
Not all reference sources use the same system of transcription. In particular: as in ''trap'' is also written {{IPA|/a/}}. as in ''dress'' is also written {{IPA|/ɛ/}}.
as in ''nurse'' is also written {{IPA|/əː/}}. as in ''price'' is also written {{IPA|/ʌɪ/}}. as in ''mouse'' is also written {{IPA|/ɑʊ/}} as in ''square'' is also written {{IPA|/ɛə/}}, and is also sometimes treated as a long monophthong {{IPA|/ɛː/}}.
Most of these variants are used in the transcription devised by [[Clive Upton]] for the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (1993) and now used in many other [[Oxford University Press]] dictionaries.
==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]] has changed her pronunciation over the past 50 years, no longer using an {{IPA|[ɛ]}}-like vowel in words like ''land''.
[[Image:RP vowel movement.png|thumb|350px|A comparison of the [[formant]] values of {{IPA|/iː æ ɑː ɔː ʊ uː/}} for older (black) and younger (light blue) RP speakers. From {{Harvcoltxt|de Jong|McDougall|Hudson|Nolan|2007|p=1814}}]]
The 1993 Oxford Dictionary changed three main things in its description of modern RP, although these features can still be heard amongst old speakers of RP. Firstly, words such as ''cloth'', ''gone'', ''off'', ''often'' were pronounced with {{IPA|/ɔː/}} (as in [[General American]]) instead of {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, so that ''often'' sounded close to ''orphan'' (See [[Phonological history of the low back vowels#Lot–cloth split|lot–cloth split]]). The Queen still uses the older pronunciations, but it is rare to hear them on the BBC any more. Secondly, there was a [[Horse–hoarse merger|distinction between horse and hoarse]] with an extra diphthong {{IPA|/ɔə/}} appearing in words like ''hoarse'', ''force'', and ''pour''. Thirdly, final y on a word is now represented as an {{IPA|/i/}} – a symbol to cover either the traditional {{IPA|/ɪ/}} or the more modern {{IPA|/iː/}}, the latter of which has been common in the south of England for some time.
Before World War II, the vowel of ''cup'' was a back vowel close to [[Cardinal vowel|cardinal]] {{IPA|[ʌ]}} but has since shifted forward to a central position so that {{IPA|[ɐ]}} is more accurate; phonetic transcription of this vowel as {{IPA|⟨ʌ⟩}} is common partly for historical reasons.
In the 1960s the transcription {{IPA|/əʊ/}} started to be used for the "GOAT" vowel instead of [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]]'s {{IPA|/oʊ/}}, reflecting a change in pronunciation since the beginning of the century. [[Joseph Wright (linguist)|Joseph Wright]]'s work suggests that, during the early 20th century, words such as ''cure, fewer, pure'', etc. were pronounced with a [[triphthong]] {{IPA|/iuə/}} rather than the more modern {{IPA|/juə/}}.
The change in RP may even be observed in the home of "BBC English". The BBC accent of the 1950s was 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. There are several words where the traditional RP pronunciation is now considered archaic: for example, "medicine" was originally said {{IPA|/ˈmedsɪn/}} and "tissue" was originally said {{IPA|/ˈtɪsjuː/}}.
==Comparison with other varieties of English==
* Like most other varieties of English outside Northern England, RP has undergone the [[foot–strut split]]: pairs like ''put''/''putt'' are pronounced differently.
* RP is usually described as having a [[Trap–bath split|broad A]] accent, so words like ''bath'' and ''chance'' appear with {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. However, Clive Upton believes that {{IPA|/a/}} in these words must be considered within RP and has called the opposing view "south-centric". The phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis has noted that the Oxford Dictionary's position has changed several times on whether to include short {{IPA|/a/}} within its prescribed pronunciation.
* RP is a [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]] accent, so {{IPA|/r/}} does not occur unless followed immediately by a vowel. Pairs such as ''father''/''farther'', ''pawn''/''porn'', ''caught''/''court'' and ''formally''/''formerly'' are homophones.
* RP has undergone the [[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. The [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]], based in London, still teaches these two sounds 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.
* Unlike many other varieties of [[English language in England]], there is no [[h dropping]] in words like ''head'' or ''horse''.
* Unlike most [[Southern Hemisphere English]] accents, RP has not undergone the [[weak vowel merger]], meaning that pairs such as ''Lenin''/''Lennon'' are distinct.
* Unlike most North American accents of English, 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.
* 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/}} and has only variable 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 ''evolution'', both pronunciations (with and without {{IPA|/j/}}) are heard in RP. 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, and the [[Cape Coloured]] dialect of South Africa) is not used very often. In traditional RP {{IPA|[ɾ]}} is an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/r/}} (used only intervocalically).
==Examples of RP==
John Wells has identified the following people as RP speakers:
* The [[British Royal Family]]
* [[David Cameron]], Prime Minister
* [[Boris Johnson]], Mayor of London
* [[Rowan Williams]], Archbishop of Canterbury
* [[David Attenborough]], broadcaster and naturalist
* [[Rupert Everett]], actor
* [[Chris Huhne]], Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
* [[Richard E. Grant]], actor
== See also ==
* [[Accent (linguistics)]]
* [[Cockney]]
* [[English language in England]]
* [[English language spelling reform]]
* [[Estuary English]]
* [[General American]]
* [[Linguistic prescription]]
* [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)]]
* [[U and non-U English]]
== Audio files ==
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/blagdon-hall/ Blagdon Hall, Northumberland]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/burnham-thorpe/ Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ Harrow]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/hexam/ Hexham, Northumberland]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/london/ London]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/newport/ Newport, Pembrokeshire]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/teddington/ Teddington]
== External links ==
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/posh.shtml B.B.C. page on Upper R.P. as spoken by the English upper-classes]
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/received-pronunciation/ Sounds Familiar?]{{ndash}} Listen to examples of received pronunciation on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
* [http://www.soundcomparisons.com/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.yek.me.uk/Blog.html Jack Windsor Lewis's PhonetiBlog]
* [http://www.linguism.co.uk/ ''Linguism – Language in a word'', blog by Graham Pointon of the BBC Pronunciation Unit]
{{English dialects by continent}}