Conservative RP

E60029

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

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Conservative RP canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

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
Received Pronunciation
surface form: 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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Received Pronunciation hasVariant Conservative RP