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English After RP: Standard British Pronunciation Today
'A concise, readable and teachable framework. It will be invaluable not only to teachers of EFL, but also to everyone teaching or studying linguistics and phonetics, speech and drama, and speech and language therapy. It is a book I wish I had written myself - but I don't think I would have been able to make such a good job of it' -From the Foreword by J.C. Wells , Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University College London, UK
'The subject of the phonetics of the standard English accent has been in the doldrums, and most pronunciation materials in current use are outdated. English After RP - whose author is ideally qualified - sets out the groundwork for a complete rethink. I believe the book will establish itself as an essential foundation for new directions in the phonetics of English.' -Peter Roach , Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Reading, UK
This book concisely describes ways in which today's standard British English speech differs from the upper-class accent of the last century, Received Pronunciation, which many now find old-fashioned or even comic. In doing so it provides a much-needed update to the existing RP-based descriptions by which the sound system of British English is still known to many around the world. The book opens with an account of the rise and fall of RP, before turning to a systematic analysis of the phonetic developments between RP and contemporary Standard Southern British (SSB) in vowels, consonants, stress, connected speech and intonation. Topics covered include the anti-clockwise vowel shift, the use of glottal stops, 'intrusive r', vocal fry and Uptalk. It concludes with a Mini Dictionary of well over 100 words illustrating the changes described throughout the book, and provides a chart of updated IPA vowel symbols. This book is an essential resource for anyone interested in British pronunciation and sound change, including academics in phonetics, phonology, applied linguistics and English language; trainers of English teachers; English teachers themselves; teachers of voice and accent coaches; and students in those areas.
Geoff Lindsey is Honorary Lecturer in Linguistics, and Director of the Summer Course in English Phonetics, at University College London, UK. He works internationally as a pronunciation and accent tutor and is co-editor of the online dictionary CUBE. He has also worked in film and TV as a writer and director.
'The subject of the phonetics of the standard English accent has been in the doldrums, and most pronunciation materials in current use are outdated. English After RP - whose author is ideally qualified - sets out the groundwork for a complete rethink. I believe the book will establish itself as an essential foundation for new directions in the phonetics of English.' -Peter Roach , Emeritus Professor of Phonetics, University of Reading, UK
This book concisely describes ways in which today's standard British English speech differs from the upper-class accent of the last century, Received Pronunciation, which many now find old-fashioned or even comic. In doing so it provides a much-needed update to the existing RP-based descriptions by which the sound system of British English is still known to many around the world. The book opens with an account of the rise and fall of RP, before turning to a systematic analysis of the phonetic developments between RP and contemporary Standard Southern British (SSB) in vowels, consonants, stress, connected speech and intonation. Topics covered include the anti-clockwise vowel shift, the use of glottal stops, 'intrusive r', vocal fry and Uptalk. It concludes with a Mini Dictionary of well over 100 words illustrating the changes described throughout the book, and provides a chart of updated IPA vowel symbols. This book is an essential resource for anyone interested in British pronunciation and sound change, including academics in phonetics, phonology, applied linguistics and English language; trainers of English teachers; English teachers themselves; teachers of voice and accent coaches; and students in those areas.
Geoff Lindsey is Honorary Lecturer in Linguistics, and Director of the Summer Course in English Phonetics, at University College London, UK. He works internationally as a pronunciation and accent tutor and is co-editor of the online dictionary CUBE. He has also worked in film and TV as a writer and director.
172 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 2, 2024
boy do i wish this included suggestions for further research 💔
October 8, 2019
A lot of astute and well-argued points about present-day Southern British English pronunciation. For a book dealing with the changing role of pronunciation standards in the UK, though, there's very little discussion of the substance and role of the proposed current standard - the "Standard Southern British". What is it? How did it come to be? What are its functions and how does it relate to other UK accents? Unfortunately, the book is also rather light on references. Having said that, a good short reference, might be useful for teachers of "British English" pronunciation.
December 23, 2021
Such an interesting book to learn about modern RP and its changes through time! I personally thought it was going to be a bit longer and more descriptive, but it is useful if you want to know more about modern phonetics.
January 8, 2022
Exceptional
The book summarises the changes to southern British English which took place over the past 50 years.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with interest in phonetics or accents.
The book summarises the changes to southern British English which took place over the past 50 years.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with interest in phonetics or accents.
March 30, 2023
The rules defining what British English Received Pronunciation exactly is and how different sounds should be pronounced are over a hundred years old. At least those of the descriptions that Geoff Lindsey refers to in his book. However it’s not like nothing has happened since then. Some phonetical changes took place, others are still under way but more importantly it is the very position RP holds among BE speakers that is now fundamentally different. From a dialect clearly separating those better-off form the rest of society, through a broadcasted language of a homogenised (pop)-culture it has now become something of a mixed-bag. While a lot more people use it now than before, they don’t necessarily follow its rules to the letter (pun intended). On the other hand large groups no longer find the need to mimic the BBC talk, mostly because they can safely do so and not weaken their chances in life. If all that is true then what indeed is RP today? Should it even still be called this?
Geoff Lindsey in "English After RP" grapples with all these doubts. A short introduction, in which he expands on the concerns I brought up earlier, is followed by a series of short chapters, each dealing with a specific sound or a transition that has taken place in RP. Then come the sections about intonation and after which the book closes with a short dictionary of popular words comparing the old and new pronunciations.
The book is very short and because of that it can only serve as an introduction. Anyone interested in a more detailed approach would need to look further. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a flaw. The way I see its primary audience, the book is there for those who from time to time wonder how much their way of speaking falls into a more general trend. With Lindsey’s help they can zoom out and look at their habits in a more generalised context. Besides, the processes the author describes are in no way 0-1 issues. That also allows the readers to put themselves on a curve illustrating the process without the need to subscribe to any imagined camps.
Possibly, the book may come even more in handy to the foreign english speakers. Those always seeking improvement may treat it as yet another resource to help them hone their accent, others will find in it a good counterweight to the outdated pronunciation patterns that can still be found here and there.
On a less positive note, I found the part on intonation very obscure and lacking proper examples and clarifications. That also tends to be wrongly balanced by sometimes too repetitive descriptions in the main part.
I find the book much needed, refreshing and most importantly useful. Recommend.
Geoff Lindsey in "English After RP" grapples with all these doubts. A short introduction, in which he expands on the concerns I brought up earlier, is followed by a series of short chapters, each dealing with a specific sound or a transition that has taken place in RP. Then come the sections about intonation and after which the book closes with a short dictionary of popular words comparing the old and new pronunciations.
The book is very short and because of that it can only serve as an introduction. Anyone interested in a more detailed approach would need to look further. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a flaw. The way I see its primary audience, the book is there for those who from time to time wonder how much their way of speaking falls into a more general trend. With Lindsey’s help they can zoom out and look at their habits in a more generalised context. Besides, the processes the author describes are in no way 0-1 issues. That also allows the readers to put themselves on a curve illustrating the process without the need to subscribe to any imagined camps.
Possibly, the book may come even more in handy to the foreign english speakers. Those always seeking improvement may treat it as yet another resource to help them hone their accent, others will find in it a good counterweight to the outdated pronunciation patterns that can still be found here and there.
On a less positive note, I found the part on intonation very obscure and lacking proper examples and clarifications. That also tends to be wrongly balanced by sometimes too repetitive descriptions in the main part.
I find the book much needed, refreshing and most importantly useful. Recommend.
July 2, 2023
I got to know this book through the author's YouTube channel. It's interesting but my main criticism is that the book does not offer much more information than the YouTube channel and maybe even less. The only section which was not (yet?) on YouTube was about the various intonations found in RP, which ironically would have been much more suitable for a YouTube video.
Mr Lindsey makes it sound as if the more modern SSB pronunciation that he explains in the book is overwhelmingly more common than the textbook or RP pronunciation of English, but it is not always the case. Few people in my experience pronounce 'year' as rhyming with 'here', say 'shtrong' instead of 'strong', or go to the "swimming Paul" rather than the swimming pool.
Mr Lindsey makes it sound as if the more modern SSB pronunciation that he explains in the book is overwhelmingly more common than the textbook or RP pronunciation of English, but it is not always the case. Few people in my experience pronounce 'year' as rhyming with 'here', say 'shtrong' instead of 'strong', or go to the "swimming Paul" rather than the swimming pool.
October 10, 2023
- Majority wins: when a pronunciation gains mainstream appeal, that pronunciation becomes the pronunciation
- Literacy rose in the UK from 50% to nearly 100%. With it, people begin to speak in a writing-conscious way
- Due to American influences, British speaking has gradually becoming more aligned with American. Lots of the words from America has become the standard British words (such as awesome, cool, and movie; Idioms such as "get your act together", "it's not rocket science", "do the math" and "dumbing down")
- Literacy rose in the UK from 50% to nearly 100%. With it, people begin to speak in a writing-conscious way
- Due to American influences, British speaking has gradually becoming more aligned with American. Lots of the words from America has become the standard British words (such as awesome, cool, and movie; Idioms such as "get your act together", "it's not rocket science", "do the math" and "dumbing down")
October 31, 2024
It is informative and, to my understanding, reflective of the current reality. I gave it four stars only because it didn’t provide a lot of new information for me personally, so I found it a little bit uninspiring.
February 1, 2020
What a mind opener. Guess I'll have to practice everything all over again, or not, or maybe a little but of both.
August 2, 2024
a więc to nie jest tak, że mówię jak potłuczona, ale mówię ingliszem after RP 🤯
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews