Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation used in British English, which suggests a privileged social and educational background.
RP is not a dialect but an accent.
RP speakers speak Standard English. Their grammar constructions and vocabulary are regionally non-specific and so is their pronunciation.
Some characteristic features of RP are the long vowel in words such as bath, path, ask or the dipthongs in words such as so, go, no, flow.
This form of pronunciation based mainly on accent is also referred to as the Queen's (or King's) English and BBC English, as it was traditionally used by the BBC in their broadcasts. It is sometimes referred to as Oxford English, because it was the way Oxford University students spoke.
History
RP originated in the East Midlands among the merchants who migrated towards London to make their fortunes. However, as the higher classes slowly but surely appropriated it, RP lost its geographical characterization and became simply the way posh people spoke.
For much of the twentieth century, RP represented the voice of education, authority, social status and economic power, characterizing the nobility and the higher classes. With the economic and culture changes which ensued after the end of WW II the middle classes gained more opportunities of educational and social advancement within the establishment. To gain immediate recognition and acceptance they too adopted RP.
Nowadays, virtually every accent is represented in all walks of life to which people aspire — sport, the arts, the media, business, even former strongholds of RP England, such as the City, Civil Service and academia. As a result, fewer speakers with regional accents consider it necessary to adapt their speech to the same extent. Indeed many commentators even suggest that younger RP speakers often go to great lengths to disguise their middle-class accent by incorporating regional features into their speech.
