Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent of British English regarded as the standard one, carrying the highest social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 20th century.^[1][2] It is also commonly referred to as the Queen's English or King's English. The study of RP is concerned only with matters of pronunciation, while other features of standard British English, such as vocabulary, grammar, and style, are not considered.

Language scholars have long disagreed on RP's exact definition, how geographically neutral it is, how many speakers there are, the nature and classification of its sub-varieties, how appropriate a choice it is as a standard, how the accent has changed over time, and even its name.^[3] Furthermore, RP has changed to such a degree over the last century that many of its early 20th-century traditions of transcription and analysis have become outdated or are no longer considered evidence-based by linguists.^[4] Standard Southern British English (SSBE) is a label some linguists use for the variety that gradually evolved from RP in the late 20th century and replaced it as the commonplace standard variety of Southern England,^[5] while others now simply use SSBE and RP as synonyms.^[6] Still, the older traditions of RP analysis continue to be commonly taught and used, for instance in language education and comparative linguistics, and RP remains a popular umbrella term in British society.