Editing Received Pronunciation (section)

==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|1980}} 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.{{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>