Hello and a happy new year to all!
I've read a lot about class being distinguished in Britain by language.
Now I wondered how you can tell e.g. upper/middle class speech from working class speech?Is it just the pronunciation or also the choice of words?
Aren't there any other characteristics how to tell the different classes apart?
You would help me a great deal answering my questions!
Bye
I can't answer that question, but it does beg one of my own.
It is my understanding that more people in Britain now speak with the Estuary accent than with RP.
However, when I travel I must meet 10 British people who use RP for every one person I meet who speaks Estuary.
Any thoughts on why this is so?
So the RP accent is considered to be upper class!
Does anybody know, if the vocabulary differs from class to class?
I wouldn't say that RP is "upper class", it still seems to me to be the general "neutral" or "polite" accent used by many educated speakers, despite the spread of Estuary. I understand that Estuary is the "general" British accent for younger educated persons under 30 or so, while people with less formal education (e.g. blue-collar workers) speak mostly in their own regional accents.
RP is definitely "upper class" since nobody in the British "upper class" would speak with another accent. It is, obviously, also the accent of those who studied in British "public" schools meaning, as you know, meaning "private" for the rest of the civilised world. I would say the "upper class" (including quite a few "university professors, clergymen, etc.) "now speak more a kind of modified "RP" than strictly "Estuary". "Estuary" has a heavy influence of RP although it has introduced some "more popular" changes. I met two you people one month ago here in Barcelona. They both worked for a London based top European publicity firm. The "young chap" definitely sounded like the son of an English earl and she sounded like "the queen of the ball". They were both in their late 20s or early 30s and they definitely spoke a slightly modified version of the older RP accent I've also heard. I think that what isn't fashionable, any longer, is the 1950s versions of RP but it has evolved and not everybody speaks Estuary although there is a revival of regional accents in GB.
Lots more in the Internet with special pages for RP and the rest.
I work in the foreign aid sector, so I don't travel first class, but I still hear a lot more people who speak with what I perceive to be the RP accent (although my ear may not be sharply tuned enough to tell the difference between a 'modified' version and the original).
A lot of the people I run into in my business ARE public servants, university students and professors, so I might not be getting a true cross section of British society... or maybe British speakers modify their accent when they travel?
With all the money he's got, you'd think David Beckham could tidy up his accent.
<<David Beckham could tidy up his accent>>
Mark:
I take issue with you on that one really. I see no reason why Becks should betray his background and the fact that he is just an ordinary guy originating from from East London. Whatever his worth now in monetary terms, he is natural and down to earth, and in any case, I rather like the way he speaks. It isn't as excructiating as some accents are, and that's a fact. When his footballing days are over and he needs an occupation he can add to his zillions by taking a part in Eastenders..he'd fit in well there. You can imagine it...he would be great in a new storyline with trails of broken hearts on the way. I know Posh could trust him all the way in the world.
He has lovely eyes too....but I'm wandering off key a bit now...sorry!
As for RP.....it's very much an English issue and as a Scot I am certain we are more or less immune up here, but as I have mentioned before in this forum, certain aspects of RP have insiduously crept into our accents too, like the gradual loss of the letter "t". It will never take hold in the same way as down there in England though. As Jordi says, regional accents do seem to be re-asserting themselves again.
ASAMOI: I'm impressed at the level of knowledge Jordi has of what's going on in the UK...I think he knows more than I do. Thank goodness that old style English RP English died out.....it really is comical to listen to with all its affectations! If you listen carefully to the royal Princes Will and Harry when they speak they both have traces of Estuary...especially Harry. He's quite a lad, and every so often zaps guys outside nightclubs at 3am....LOL
Would you like a cup of tea my dear?
Wan'a cup of tea Jim?
So why is it called "Received Pronunciation"? Anyone know?
If I am right, it is "received" because it is nobody's native accent, you just pick it up during your studies as a "standard" way of speaking. They said only the royal family used to speak it as some sort of a "native" accent, but having read Damian's post, I doubt it is still the case, if it ever was.
It's the most well recieved pronunciation? Just a guess, though.
(something sounds strange to me about the term 'most well' as though it isn't quite grammatically correct. I'd otherwise use 'best')
Whoops, I spelled 'received' incorrectly.
It's called Received Pronunciation because it wasn't the accent of a region but the accent of a class. All the gentry would send their children to "public schools" such as Eton and others and unis such as Oxford and Cambridge would so the rest. It pretty much extended all over the country in Victorian times and was the only accepted accent in the BBC until the 70s. It is also the accent "of the stage" and Shakespeare is still mostly expected to be delivered in such a fashion, at least in the Commonwealth world. Think in Sir Lawrence Olivier and you've got the thing... It was also the accepted Standard Accent in Australia and New Zealand until the 60s for stage and the Australian Broadcasting Comission, in a slightly modified version (see Australian Cultural Cringe) although it is not longer the case. It's easy now to listen to radio stations in the Internet. Try them all, especially the official subsidised ones. There is still quite a difference between broadcasters in Australian ABC and other more regional stations. Although the accent is recognisable I can assure you the official one still sounds more "British" at least to fluent foreign ears or even to Americans.
The thing about this is that it didn't matter where you were from in GB or where you lived. One must remember that the English upper-class is the only society in the world that got rid of their kids at age 6 to send them to boarding schools. They could, of course, come home and visit in Christmas, Easter or the Summer. The accent was taught more in school than at home since neighbouring children would have spoilt the brats' accents.
Things have now changed a lot and I don't want to get any longer. As I told you it's easy to get information with the Internet and I do travel to GB and meet British people almost every day.
Obviously, it is still widely spoken in circles and it is still considered a plus, in its modified version, for top jobs, especially in the south of England. It is also the accent expected for those teaching English as a foreign language, at least in most of Europe.
Teenagers and young adults tend to speak in a more informal fashion but they tend to become more conservative (speech-wise and perhaps more) as they grow older.
I have no time to edit and I apologise.