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Received Pronunciation
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{{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=74β81}} 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a degree over the last century that many of its early 20th-century traditions of transcription and analysis have become outdated or are no longer considered [[Evidence-based practice|evidence-based]] by [[Linguistics|linguists]].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 |language=en}}</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 β 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 |language=en}}</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.
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