Queen Elizabeth II spoke Upper RP in her own inimitable way, and King Charles III’s speech has many aspects of it, but you are unlikely to hear it in your local pub. It’s difficult to find an example of anybody in public life outside royalty who has this accent now.

So what are the features of Upper RP? As we’ll see, it’s mainly the vowel sounds that differ from modern standard British English accents which are commonly labelled Modern RP, General British (GB) or Standard Southern British (SSB).

In Upper RP the front vowel sounds are made with the jaw more close than in GB:

Upper RP is closer [ɛ]

“HAND ME THAT BAG, HARRY”

Upper RP is closer [e]

“GET ME A RED PEN”

Central vowels tend to be pronounced with a more open jaw and back tongue than those in GB:

Upper RP is further open and back [ʌː]

“CERTAINLY, BURN THE SHIRT.”

Upper RP is more open and back [ɑ].

“LOVELY HONEY, MUM!”

Upper RP is more open and can be less rounded:

“WHAT DO YOU WANT, JOHN?”

This sound is now very central in GB except before [ɫ], but it remains a back vowel in all places in Upper RP:

“CHOOSE: SHOES OR BOOTS?”

Upper RP starts to the front [ɛʊ]

“NO, DON’T GO.”

GB starts to the front whereas Upper RP starts at the back [ɑʊ]

“LOUD SOUNDS ABOUND.”

In Upper RP this starts at the front [aɪ] (like King Charles) or at the back [ɑɪ] whereas GB is more central:

“I QUITE LIKE IT”

This diphthong starts in a more open, even unrounded place in Upper RP

“IT’S THE BOY‘S PLOY, JOY.”

Diphthongs ending /ə/ tend to have open endings in Upper RP. In GB these are tending to turn into monophthong sounds [ɪː,ɛː,ɔː]:

“WHERE? HERE? ARE YOU SURE?”

In GB these -y endings are a close /i/ sound whereas in Upper RP it’s more open up to /e/:

“REALLY VERY LOVELY“

/ə/ is pronounced more open at the end of words in Upper RP

“IT’S SHARPER, FASTER and HEAVIER“

Consonant + /j/ is pronounced instead of one of /tʃ,dʒ,ʃ,s,z/

“THE DUKE’S SUIT WAS ISSUED ON A TUESDAY”

Words starting WH are pronounced with /h/ at the beginning in Upper RP:

“WHY, WHAT, WHERE and WHEN?”

Before an unstressed vowel, Upper RP speakers tend to tap /ɾ/

“MARRY ME IN PARIS, MARY.”

Aside from these differences, Upper RP speakers tend to articulate their consonants clearly and never use glottal stops instead of /t/ before vowel sounds.

The post Upper Received Pronunciation appeared first on Pronunciation Studio.

Charles’ vocal delivery is instantly recogniseable: his tone is so nasal, his speech so muffled at times that he could have easily played The Godfather.

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For decades it’s been relatively ignored in the media, but recently the hit BBC series Peaky Blinders brought the city’s accent and colourful history to new international audiences. So what are the features of a Brummie accent? Here are 10 that stand out:

Audio Accent Key:

Black text = read in Brummie

*To listen, use the sound bar at the top of the page.*

Monophthong /iː/ is pronounced as a diphthong starting in the centre of the mouth [əi]:

SEE MEET NEED

The same happens when this position appears in -Y endings:

REALLY FUNNY SLOWLY

and it’s found in the name of Birmingham’s most famous rock star:

/ɪ/ is made with the tongue further to the front, close to [i]:

HIT THING LIVE

There’s a movement from the centre of the mouth when Brummie’s say this sound [əu]

LOSE FLEW SOON

In keeping with northern English accents, /ʌ/ is swapped for /ʊ/:

FUN LOVE HUNG

/eɪ/ starts with the tongue back and the jaw open in Brummie [ɑɪ]:

PAY GREAT SHAME

/aʊ/ doesn’t tend to end in a rounded position in Brummie – [aə] is typical:

ROUND BROWN HOW

Brummies tend to start /əʊ/ with the tongue back and the mouth more open:

GO SHOW ALONE

The /ʌɪ/ diphthong is very distinctive in Brummie – it’s made with a rounded back vowel at the beginning:

RIGHT SIGN LIGHT

Like Scousers, Brummies may tap their /r/ sounds before vowels:

FRIGHT PRAY VERY

In a Brummie accent the ‘g’ is pronounced in many NG spellings:

SING HANG BIRMINGHAM

But like most regional accents the g is normally dropped in -ing endings that have been added to a word:

WORKING HAVING WRITING

The melody of Brummie is truly distinctive. It has a monotone nature with long stretches hitting the same note. But when Brummies stress a word, it tends to lengthen considerably, and this can be followed by sharp rises or falls in tone. 

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A RISING BRUMMIE TONE

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A FALLING ONE. 

The post Brummie – The Accent From Birmingham appeared first on Pronunciation Studio.

The Queen’s English Accent

Some of the features of the Queen’s accent are still found in mainly older upper class speakers today, but the tone and delivery the Queen uses are unmistakeably hers. Below are 10 features of the Queen’s accent that stand out most of all. 

1. /ɔː/

The Queen makes /ɔː/ with her tongue very far back in the mouth: FOUR, ALWAYS, LORD.  But noticeably the Queen also uses this sound on some words that would be short /ɒ/ in modern GB: 

OFF, LOST, OFTEN, GONE

2. /ə, ɪə/

When /ə/ appears at the end of a word, the Queen tends to open her mouth quite widely and stress the syllable a little:

PARTICULAR, EVER, HEAR, NEAR

3. /a/

Whereas in modern GB English the mouth is very open for front sound /a/, the Queen’s jaw is somewhat more closed, her sound is nearer to [ɛ]: 

HAND, BAT, FANTASTIC, GRANNY

4. /uː/

Modern GB tends to have the tongue in the centre of the mouth for /u:/. Not the Queen, her tongue is pulling back [u:]: 

DO, CHEW, MOVE, BLUE

5. -y Endings

When a word ends in weak -y such as SILLY, the Queen tends to pronounce it [e] or [ɪ] whereas the modern trend in standard pronunciation is to pronounce these /i/:

REALLY, CITY, CAPACITY, CHERRY

6. /əʊ/

The /əʊ/ diphthong has more regional variations than any other sound in English. The Queen ’s version is [ɛʊ]:

GO, ONLY, ROAD, BELOW

7. /ʌɪ/

Unike many older upper class English speakers, who pronounce this sound [ɑɪ], the Queen generally uses a front starting position closer to [a]:

KIND, MY, BRIGHT

8. /r/

The Queen’s consonant sounds don’t differ much from modern GB, with the exception of /r/.  When it appears between two vowel sounds (and the second one is unstressed), the Queen tends to flap [ɾ]: 

VERY, CAROL, AMERICA, PARROT

9. Creaky Voice

Her majesty’s voice has gradually become more creaky as she has grown older, particularly at the end of sentences. Now it is an integral part of her sound:

10. Nasal Tone

A feature that the Queen has always displayed is her nasal delivery, a little bit of sound is released through the nose, which gives a certain muffled quality to her speech.

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A Pronunciation Guide by Pronunciation Studio

MLE has been around for about thirty years, but it’s getting exposure now, as some of England’s biggest stars like footballer Raheem Sterling and musician Stormzy who grew up speaking it, are in the spotlight.

Although it has London in its name, you’ll actually hear it all over England in mixed urban areas. People who speak it in cities including Birmingham, Leicester and Manchester will also throw in flavours of the local accents in those places. The key feature of this accent is its ability to adapt to the people using it, so it keeps changing. 

In today’s lesson we learn how to do the MLE vowel and consonant sounds, comparing it to both standard English pronunciation (GB) and the last urban accent to come out of London – cockney.

Audio Accent Key:

Black text = read in MLE (Multicultural London English)

The front [i̠ː] vowel sound is a little bit relaxed in MLE so the tongue isn’t quite as far to the front: FEE, NEED, LEAD.

“See these? They feel cheap to me.”

In CHOOSE, DO and YOU the tongue is to the front of the mouth, not in the centre, it sounds a little bit French:

“D’you know who’s doing the food?”

The sound [ɐ] in MAN, PAT, and RAN isn’t made so much to the front as in standard English:

“Dan is having a mad jam in the flat.”

In FEAR, DEER and NEARLY the sound is more often a long monophthong [ɪː] instead of a diphthong:

“Here’s your beer, cheers bruv.”

This sound varies a lot in MLE, it can be a monophthong [ëː] PAY, WAY, TAKE or a diphthong [ëɪ] PAY, WAY, TAKE, or a bit of a mixture:

“Take the train now Dave or you’ll be late.”

This is pronounced as a single position, slightly front sound [ɜ̟ː] LIKE, FIND, WHITE

“Why don’t you try size nine?”

The sound in HOW, ROUND, and OUT is often pronounced as a single nearly open vowel which can be to the front [æː] or fairly central [ɐː], it can also have a slightly diphthongal quality to it [ɐu]:

“How about we go round his house now?”

This diphthong sound starts with the tongue to the back in MLE [oʊ]: GO, LOAD, OVER, WINDOW but the second part is often dropped so it can just be [oː].

“I don’t know why he goes over the road to phone, though.”

In MLE, TH sounds are either /f,v/ THANKS, BOTHER, or /t,d/ THANKS, BOTHER, or even mixture of all four:

“He thinks he’s the babyfather.”

MLE shares the cockney use of glottal stops [ʔ] for /t/ after vowel and consonant sounds FOOTBALL, LIGHTLY, BETTER.

“Don’t keep me waiting tonight, alright?”

Like most regional accents in England, ‘ng’ endings are pronounced /n/ WORKIN’, WRITIN’, WALKIN‘

“I was thinking of going to buy something.”

Like cockney, MLE swaps dark [ɫ] for a back vowel sound, most commonly [u]: LITTLE, FALL, HILL:

“All my bottles are being recycled.”

MLE speakers tend to pronounce /h/: HAT, HOME, AHEAD. This is a key difference from cockney, which does not normally include /h/ at all:

MLE: “It’s too hot with the heating on in here.”

In MLE /k/ and /g/ tend to be made with the tongue slightly further back in the mouth: KITE, CRY, QUEEN, GATE, AGO, GRIME.

“Can Gareth go and pick up some carrot cake?”

These sounds can be made with the tongue near the teeth: SO, SITE, PASSAGE, ZOO, CHEESE, ROSE.

“Pass the salmon and mayonnaise sandwiches please.”

The pitch range used by MLE speakers is also very variable, ranging from monotone cool and casual to an animated and jumpy collection of pitch changes.

The post MLE (Multicultural London English) – the Urban Accent appeared first on Pronunciation Studio.

The most obvious difference between standard American (GA) and standard British (GB) is the omission of ‘r’ in GB: you only pronounce a written < r > if there is a vowel sound after it, so we don’t say it in PARK /pɑːk/, HORSE /hɔːs/ or FURTHER /ˈfɜːðə/. In American, though, we pronounce every written /r/ so /pɑrk/, /hɔrs/ & /ˈfɜrðər/.

“Roast dinner will be pork, carrots and turnips.”

In British (GB) we use back rounded open sound /ɒ/ for words like SHOP /ʃɒp/, LOST /lɒst/ and WANT /wɒnt/. In American (GA) we don’t round the lips, so it’s: /ʃɑp/, /lɑst/ & /wɑnt/. 

“John wants a stop watch.”

The pronunciation and usage of /a/ is fairly similar in American and British; words like CAT and MAD are very similar. There is a group of words, however, containing the spelling ARR, which change from /a/ to /ɛ/ in American. CARRY /kari/ is /kɛri/ EMBARRASS /ɪmˈbarɪs/ is /ɪmˈbɛrəs/ and HARRY /ˈhari/ is /ˈhɛri/, giving the name the same pronunciation as HAIRY in American . MARRY, MERRY and MARY would all be the same too in American English, but different in British: /ˈmari/, /ˈmɛri/ & /ˈmɛːri/

“I’ll carry your bags, Harry.”

The British thinking sound /əː/, found in words like HEARD /həːd/, FIRST /fəːst/ and WORST /wəːst/, is pronounced differently – with the tongue raised and a /r/ quality in American, /hərd/, /fərst/ & /wərst/. This sound nearly always has an ‘r’ in its spelling, but even when it doesn’t, American speakers say one, like in the word COLONEL /ˈkərnəl/, which is /ˈkəːnəl/ in British English.

“The early bird murders the worm.”

Long back rounded /ɔː/ as in SWORD /sɔːd/, FORCE /fɔːs/, THOUGHT /θɔːt/ & LAW /lɔː/ is pronounced in 2 ways in American. /ɔr/ for words with ‘r’ so SWORD /sɔrd/ & FORCE /fɔrs/, and /ɑ/ for words without /r/ so THOUGHT /θɑt/ & LAW /lɑ/. This means that for many American speakers, COT /kɑt/and CAUGHT /kɑt/ are the same, though COURT /kɔrt/ would be different. In British English CAUGHT /kɔːt/ and COURT would be the same, COT /kɒt/ would be different.

“I caught four walkers talking Norse.”

Long back unrounded /ɑː/ like in CAR /kɑː/, START /stɑːt/, AFTER /ɑːftə/ & HALF /hɑːf/ is pronounced /ɑr/ in American if there’s an ‘r’ in the spelling so CAR /kɑr/ & START /stɑrt/. Most of those words that don’t have an ‘r’ in GB  are pronounced /a/ in American so AFTER /ˈaftər/ & HALF /haf/.

“Pass these parts to master Carter.”

The long vowel /ɛː/ in HAIR /hɛː/, BEAR /bɛː/ & WHERE /wɛː/ is always spelt with an ‘r’ so it’s pronounced /ɛr/ in American English HAIR /hɛr/, BEAR /bɛr/, WHERE /wɛr/. This makes FAIRY /ˈfɛri/ and FERRY the same in American, but different in British /ˈfɛːri/ & /ˈfɛri/.

“The spare chair is there, by the stairs.”

British English /ɪə/ in words like STEER /stɪə/, CLEAR /klɪə/ & CHEER /tʃɪə/ is pronounced /ɪr/ in American so /stɪr/, /klɪr/ & /tʃɪr/.

“I fear the deer’s near here.”

In standard GB English the diphthong /əʊ/ starts in the centre of the mouth GO, NO & SHOW, whereas in American it starts to the back /oʊ/: GO /goʊ/, NO /noʊ/, SHOW /ʃoʊ/. There is great variance on both sides of the Atlantic for this sound.

“Don’t throw stones over the road.”

There is a greater difference in British English between the length of vowel sounds, with some being pronounced significantly longer than their American counterparts. Some of this is owing to the additional pronunciation of ‘r’ in many American vowel sounds as seen above. Most phonemic charts reflect this by showing five or six English vowel sounds with two triangular dots, whereas most charts do not offer this for American.

heard  /həːd/ /hərd/

When /t/ appears after a stressed vowel and before a weak vowel, American speakers often make a voiced flap – a bit like a very fast /d/: WATER, FIGHTER, GOT IT. In Standard British this would be pronounced as a normal /t/ WATER, FIGHTER, GOT IT, though in regional British accents, most famously cockney, this would be a glottal stop: WATER, FIGHTER, GOT IT.

“My daughter bought a motorbike.”

Apart from the higher number of /r/ sounds in American English, there is also a small but significant difference in the way they are pronounced. In American, the tongue curls back further, giving it a slightly muffled quality – RIGHT, ARROW. Whereas in British the tongue is flatter and further forward RIGHT, ARROW.

“These red roses are for Rachel.”

In British English where /j/ appears after /t, d, n, l, s, z/ (the alveolar consonants) it is omitted in American: /t/ TUNE /tjuːn, tun/, /d/ DUTY /ˈdjuːti, ˈduti/, /n/ NEW /njuː, nu/, /l/ LEWD /ljuːd, lud/, /s/ SUIT /sjuːt, sut/ /z/ EXUDE /ɪgˈzjuːd, ɪgˈzud/. This is often referred to as ‘yod dropping’.

“On Tuesday, tune into the news.”

Some words are stressed differently in American English, particularly those of French origin where American keeps the last syllable stress and British goes for first syllable (audio is British then American): GARAGE, GOURMET, BALLET, BROCHURE, though this is reversed in the words ADDRESS and MOUSTACHE.

“Here’s the address of the garage.”

The melody of British and American is quite different, though the structure of speech is very similar. The most obvious difference is the British tendency to use high falling intonation, hitting the main stress high and dropping down. Whereas in American rising tones are more common, so you go up from the main stress. This use of rising intonation on statements is sometimes referred to as ‘Upspeak’.

“I don’t really know what to do about it.”

This article was updated on 15th October 2021. 

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In order to explore the matter, we took the bold step of asking a Received Pronunciation (RP) speaker to interview an Estuary (EE) speaker:

Well, it’s from the South of England, but it isn’t cockney, and it isn’t RP. It’s somewhere in between, so some people are a bit more towards cockney than others.

Obviously because it’s spoken around the river Thames, but it’s spread a lot now, you’ll hear it pretty much everywhere within a 50 mile radius of London these days. Everywhere from Essex to Oxford, Kent to Milton Keynes, which is where I’m from. 

No, not like you. But lots of posh people sound a bit Estuary when they’re trying to impress their mates in the pub, which is pathetic really. It’s a sort of classless accent, but posh people copy it to sound cool.

Yeah. Definitely. You should try it.

Loads of famous people speak it, yeah. Comedians like Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand, presenters like Jonathan Ross and the TV chef Jamie Oliver. Loads of singers too, like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse. The new mayor of London, as well, he’s a little bit Estuary.

We often use a glottal stop instead of a /t/ in words like LITTLE and WHAT. Oh yeah, and I replace /l/ with/u/ at the end of words, like MINIMAL.

Well, actually it sounds better if you pronounce them with /tʃ/ – TUNA, TUBE, TUNISIA and ESTUARY of course. See? That’s much better.

Sometimes I drop /h/, sometimes I keep it. It depends on my mood and my company. I definitely don’t drop it all the time, though, no. Have you got the time? I’m due back at the hotel.

I fink so. Ha ha, only joking. I think I do. Hang on, I’m not sure. Ask me something else.

You should hear what they say about you.  “Queen’s English”, “BBC”, “Oxford”. At least real people actually speak Estuary. Anyway, who cares what people say? Next question.

I really hope so. Can I go now?

The post What is ‘Estuary English’? appeared first on Pronunciation Studio.

It’s really quite simple – RP can have no hint of any regional accent for it to be considered RP. Some changes have crept in over the last couple of decades (listed below in modern features of RP), but they are minor and slow, mainly limited to slight changes in vowel positioning.

The key difference is that GB can incorporate regional elements. These could be very noticeable vowel or consonant substitutions (as listed below in possible features of GB), but the term allows for a much broader inclusion of speakers who have mainly standard accents. In other words, RP is GB, but GB isn’t necessarily RP.

Features that are now accepted as RP (the audio is firstly the modern way, then the old-fashioned way):

old cold role soul

boot shoe foot push

poor sure tour cure

batman “that car”

fear adhere wear mayor

tune intuition duke educate

A GB speaker may produce some or all of these regional variations. This list is not exhaustive, the audio is firstly in GB, then RP:

fall little minimal call

right arrow Rome rocket

glass fast path past

fishing learning watching hanging

– after a nasal at the end:

didn’t couldn’t weren’t

– before /l/

little bottle

Not before a vowel, although in fast connected speech this could go unnoticed:

I’ve got a few things to say.

A rising tone on statements is probably frowned upon in RP, but is so widely used in Britain now by speakers of different ages, regions and class backgrounds, that it would certainly be an acceptable feature of GB.

I would need a /season ticket.

A perfect example of the modern distinction between RP and GB is found in London’s previous and current mayors’ accents. Boris Johnson speaks a crystal clear RP, exuding his Eton and Oxford education. New mayor Sadiq Khan speaks GB – there’s a strong hint of London in there, but the accent is mainly standard.

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