American English Pronunciation

[bostonman]

I would call BBC English the preferable British English.

 

I would assume that is what tends to be called "RP" or "received pronunciation" - basically, "standard English."

[MscleLovr]

I would call BBC English the preferable British English.

I would assume that is what tends to be called "RP" or "received pronunciation" - basically, "standard English."

 

It used to be called Received Pronunciation (RP) and this was what was heard on the BBC in the UK. In recent years, however, the BBC has engaged in dumbing-down by promoting many presenters with regional accents - some of them with poor grammar and bad enunciation - in pursuit of diversity and to avoid charges by the left-wing of elitism.

[+ Pensant]

I would assume that is what tends to be called "RP" or "received pronunciation" - basically, "standard English."

Basically, the upper middle class accent of the Home Counties.

[+ Pensant]

Regional accents seem to be dying out among younger generations. I think it’s the influence of TV and video games, which tend towards the neutral American (TV news voice) accent. When I visit Eastern Europe, where English is widely spoken among the young, they all tend to have more of an American accent rather than a British one. They all easily understand my neutral American accent.

[alkan]

[mike carey]

It used to be called Received Pronunciation (RP) and this was what was heard on the BBC in the UK. In recent years, however, the BBC has engaged in dumbing-down by promoting many presenters with regional accents - some of them with poor grammar and bad enunciation - in pursuit of diversity and to avoid charges by the left-wing of elitism.

That's one way of putting it. RP is still a thing, it's just not the only voice that is heard on the BBC. Bad grammar and enunciation are separate issues but accepting regional accents is an acceptance that they are a valid representation of the way British people speak. Sir Michael Parkinson never lost his Yorkshire accent and he was more authentic for keeping it. A homogenised American standard accent seems now to be more a requirement in the US than RP is in the UK. In this country, the ABC has gone from all-white and male presenters on radio and television, speaking in something close to RP to a diversity of voices and faces, and the ABC hasn't lost any of its heft as a serious broadcaster.

[+ Gar1eth]

. In this country, the ABC has gone from all-white and male presenters on radio and television, speaking in something close to RP to a diversity of voices and faces, and the ABC hasn't lost any of its heft as a serious broadcaster.

 

I was a bit confused by this remark at first. Then I realized this country referred to Australia. And ABC meant the Australian Broadcasting Company not the American ABC.

 

GMAN

[loremipsum]

I wonder if I am the only one who laments the extirpation of the affected Locust Valley Lockjaw accent.

[+ Gar1eth]

I wonder if I am the only one who laments the extirpation of the affected Locust Valley Lockjaw accent.

 

Is this also called the Mid-Atlantic Accent?

 

 

Gman

[loremipsum]

Is this also called the Mid-Atlantic Accent?

 

 

Gman

 

Yes, and by some it is also referred to as the Transatlantic Accent.

[Guest]

I've never had trouble understanding Australians due to their accent. Occasionally there will be a word unique to that continent, but not because of the accent. Kiwis can take me off guard. Once, while visiting Wellington, I was wondering why our tour guide was talking about a Penis Tournament. After a while I figured out he was talking about a Tennis Tournament, but he pronounced "tennis" like "tenis." I thought that Kiwis had tournaments where male genitals were compared...

[Guest]

That's one way of putting it. RP is still a thing, it's just not the only voice that is heard on the BBC. Bad grammar and enunciation are separate issues but accepting regional accents is an acceptance that they are a valid representation of the way British people speak...

If one is broadcasting all over the UK, why not broadcast in a way most people can understand without using subtitles? If everyone understands "RP", but many people (English included--I know many English who have trouble understanding regional accents) have trouble understanding those who speak with Cornish or York accents, why not hire the person everyone understands? To show that regional accents are "acceptable"? Sounds dumb to me. If you're broadcasting to a broad audience, use the accent everyone understands. Leave regional accents to local broadcasts.

[alkan]

If one is broadcasting all over the UK, why not broadcast in a way most people can understand without using subtitles? If everyone understands "RP", but many people (English included--I know many English who have trouble understanding regional accents) have trouble understanding those who speak with Cornish or York accents, why not hire the person everyone understands? To show that regional accents are "acceptable"? Sounds dumb to me. If you're broadcasting to a broad audience, use the accent everyone understands. Leave regional accents to local broadcasts.

Yes, of course that makes sense. The drawback is that broadcasting has such an influence that someone speaking in their perfectly correct local accent is looked down on as somehow inferior intellectually. You may say that is not the fault of the broadcaster and that is true. But I suppose the BBC as the national broadcasting service in the UK has a wider understanding of its cultural and social responsibilities (sometimes) than just the avoidance of blame.

[mike carey]

If one is broadcasting all over the UK, why not broadcast in a way most people can understand without using subtitles? If everyone understands "RP", but many people (English included--I know many English who have trouble understanding regional accents) have trouble understanding those who speak with Cornish or York accents, why not hire the person everyone understands? To show that regional accents are "acceptable"? Sounds dumb to me. If you're broadcasting to a broad audience, use the accent everyone understands. Leave regional accents to local broadcasts.

Regional accents are not inomprehensible to other people in the UK. Anyone who cannot be understood widely would not be employed. The broadcasters know what they are doing.

[MscleLovr]

Regional accents are not inomprehensible to other people in the UK. Anyone who cannot be understood widely would not be employed. The broadcasters know what they are doing.

 

Though generally you make a lot of sense @mike carey, on this I disagree with you. Some regional accents such as from Liverpool, Newcastle and parts of Scotland are really hard for English people from elsewhere to understand. That such speakers are employed by the BBC is due to a politically correct or left-wing agenda in that institution to show that all voices are valued and of equal merit. Comprehensibility is not a concern.

[Guest]

Regional accents are not inomprehensible to other people in the UK. Anyone who cannot be understood widely would not be employed. The broadcasters know what they are doing.

I'm sorry, but you're factually incorrect on this. Although I've never heard an Australian tell me he has trouble understanding another Australian, I have heard multiple English people tell me they have trouble understanding other people from the UK when they speak. It's not just me.

[bostonman]

Calling ‘enry ‘iggins...

[loremipsum]

Calling ‘enry ‘iggins...

 

The hwrain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

[beachboy]

The hwrain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

Careful-as a Brit that's my mother tongue you're fooling with!

We don't all talk like Dick Van Dyke (what a travesty that was) & usually can understand each other except maybe those from the highlands of Scotland on occasion !

[loremipsum]

Careful-as a Brit that's my mother tongue you're fooling with!

We don't all talk like Dick Van Dyke (what a travesty that was) & usually can understand each other except maybe those from the highlands of Scotland on occasion !

 

Not to fret — the Brit in my estimation who serves as the exemplar of my favorite accent is Cary Grant ?

[loremipsum]

Careful-as a Brit that's my mother tongue you're fooling with!

We don't all talk like Dick Van Dyke (what a travesty that was) & usually can understand each other except maybe those from the highlands of Scotland on occasion !

 

The travesty in this hybrid of Fair Lady/Mary Poppins mishegas, involving the same actors, was that Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in the theater, and yet Hepburn received the film role. Andrews got hers though, when she won Best Actress for Mary Poppins and Hepburn was not even nominated (the films were released the same year).

[bostonman]

We don't all talk like Dick Van Dyke (what a travesty that was)

 

And that always surprised me, as I really figured he'd be a thorough enough actor to get it right. (Or you'd think that Julie Andrews would have discreetly coached him, or something.)

[+ Gar1eth]

Careful-as a Brit that's my mother tongue you're fooling with!

We don't all talk like Dick Van Dyke (what a travesty that was) & usually can understand each other except maybe those from the highlands of Scotland on occasion !

Not to fret — the Brit in my estimation who serves as the exemplar of my favorite accent is Cary Grant ?

I thought Cary was using, at least as time went on, more a of a Mid-Atlantic Accent although his speech might have been a bit more on the English side of the Atlantic (considering he was English) than most Americans using it.

 

Gman