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Liveinsea Posted 19 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
standard pronunciation of American or British English?
Is there a kind of pronunciation of American or British English, which could be described as standard?
If there is not, what kind of pronunciation is taught to the pupils in the U.S. or the U.K.?
If there is, where does it come from? Does it come from the native people in the U.S. or the U.K.? Or in other words, do some native people have the standard pronuciation, just the standard pronuciation?
Or the so-called standard pronunciation of English is invented and prescribed by some authorities (such as the government or some experts) according to the general pronuciation of most native people, with some modificatons? If it is so, who are the authorities? and what are the official documents concerned with the standard pronuciation made by these authorities?
Thanks a lot!
If there is not, what kind of pronunciation is taught to the pupils in the U.S. or the U.K.?
If there is, where does it come from? Does it come from the native people in the U.S. or the U.K.? Or in other words, do some native people have the standard pronuciation, just the standard pronuciation?
Or the so-called standard pronunciation of English is invented and prescribed by some authorities (such as the government or some experts) according to the general pronuciation of most native people, with some modificatons? If it is so, who are the authorities? and what are the official documents concerned with the standard pronuciation made by these authorities?
Thanks a lot!
Top answer
Hi Liveinsea, No authorities control the English language. There are standard varietes of spoken British and American English. The standard accent of British English is often referred to as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP), although this term may be slightly misleading and perhaps a bit outdated.
- Hi Liveinsea, No authorities control the English language.
- There are standard varietes of spoken British and American English.
- The standard accent of British English is often referred to as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP), although this term may be slightly misleading and perhaps a bit outdated.
- e.
- the accent is non-localisable.
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9 Answers
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Hi Liveinsea,
No authorities control the English language. There are standard varietes of spoken British and American English. The standard accent of British English is often referred to as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP), although this term may be slightly misleading and perhaps a bit outdated. Present day mainstream 'RP' is spoken by many educated English people from all parts of the coun
No authorities control the English language. There are standard varietes of spoken British and American English. The standard accent of British English is often referred to as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP), although this term may be slightly misleading and perhaps a bit outdated. Present day mainstream 'RP' is spoken by many educated English people from all parts of the coun
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Hi,
This reads as if Canada is a part of the United States, although I'm sure you were not suggesting that.
This reads as if Canada is a part of the United States, although I'm sure you were not suggesting that.
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Hi Clive,
My apologies for expressing myself in such a clumsy and inappropriate way. You probably noticed that I acknowledged your accent as being different from General American, so I guess all is not lost!
My apologies for expressing myself in such a clumsy and inappropriate way. You probably noticed that I acknowledged your accent as being different from General American, so I guess all is not lost!
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Thank you very much!
My another problem is that I have two dictionaries: LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English (2005) and COLLINS COBUILD Essential English Dictionary (1988). The LONGMAN provides the British pronunciation while COLLINS COBUILD declared that it uses the Received Pronunciation, but I have found there some differences between the dictionaries in the pronunciations of th
My another problem is that I have two dictionaries: LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English (2005) and COLLINS COBUILD Essential English Dictionary (1988). The LONGMAN provides the British pronunciation while COLLINS COBUILD declared that it uses the Received Pronunciation, but I have found there some differences between the dictionaries in the pronunciations of th
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Sorry about the entry of IPA symbols which I am not familiar with! Also the attachment does not work.
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Hi,
It has been my experience that students become lost when consulting dictionaries with regard to phonetic symbols as many times each one uses different phonetic symbols. This has caused much grief and I just tell my online students to stay away from it and try to spell the pronunciation out in English.
Example:
worked ( t)
played (d)
motivated (id)
It has been my experience that students become lost when consulting dictionaries with regard to phonetic symbols as many times each one uses different phonetic symbols. This has caused much grief and I just tell my online students to stay away from it and try to spell the pronunciation out in English.
Example:
worked ( t)
played (d)
motivated (id)
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Hi there,
What is known as "Received pronounciation" in the UK is seen as the "posh" way of speaking English. This is how the Queen speaks, and was the way all TV presenters had to speak a few decades ago.
Nowadays, there is no standard accent for teaching children the UK, and there is no authority telling schools they must teach children to speak with a certain accent. Each chi
What is known as "Received pronounciation" in the UK is seen as the "posh" way of speaking English. This is how the Queen speaks, and was the way all TV presenters had to speak a few decades ago.
Nowadays, there is no standard accent for teaching children the UK, and there is no authority telling schools they must teach children to speak with a certain accent. Each chi
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