Conservative RP

E60029

Conservative RP is a traditional, older-fashioned form of British Received Pronunciation associated with upper-class and formal speech.


Statements (34)
Predicate Object
instanceOf accent
sociolect
variety of Received Pronunciation
associatedWith establishment speech
formal speech
older speakers
public school education in the UK
upper-class speech
classification subtype of British English accent
contrastedWith Contemporary RP
Mainstream RP
country United Kingdom
declineInUse late 20th century and early 21st century
documentedIn works on Received Pronunciation by British phoneticians
isA older-fashioned form of British Received Pronunciation
traditional form of British Received Pronunciation
language English
notableIn mid-20th-century British broadcasting
perceivedAs prestige accent in the UK
socially conservative accent
phonologicalFeature clear distinction between /ɔː/ and /ɒ/
less vowel reduction in unstressed syllables than in many modern accents
more conservative vowel qualities than Contemporary RP
non-rhoticity
traditional /æ/–/ɑː/ distribution in words like bath and dance
traditional diphthong realizations in words like GOAT and FACE
use of /juː/ in words like news and student
register ceremonial
formal
socialConnotation distance from everyday colloquial speech in the UK
traditional upper-class identity
timePeriod 20th century
usedIn formal public speaking in the UK
traditional British institutions

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Received Pronunciation
hasVariant

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