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Received Pronunciation Phonology
The Vowel Sounds of RP
The table below lists all the vowel sounds in an RP accent according to lexical set. The phonetician John Wells introduced in his book, Accents of English (1982), the concept of using a single word to refer to the pronunciation of a particular group of English words. He calls these word-groups lexical sets and uses a key word, such as KIT, to identify them.
The second column lists possible spellings for words in each group, while the third gives the symbol used in the International Phonetic Alphabet ( IPA) to represent the vowel sound. You will find the IPA symbols in a dictionary where pronunciations of words are included.
Click on a sound file to hear an RP speaker using the target vowel. As with any accent of English, RP encompasses a wide variety of speakers and should not be confused with the notion of ‘posh’ speech. The table includes examples of lexical sets where pronunciation differs. Conservative RP refers to pronunciations associated with older RP speakers and contemporary RP refers to newer, innovative pronunciations common among younger RP speakers, but not yet accepted as ‘the definitive’ RP vowel.
Vowel variations
Vowels are far more useful than consonants when comparing regional accents. Every English accent can be compared to RP, or indeed to any other accent, by establishing the type of vowel used for any given set. For example, people from outside the North East find it difficult to distinguish between speakers on Teesside and speakers on Tyneside, but there are a number of crucial differences, most noticeably perhaps the pronunciation of words in the NURSE set - words such as bird, work, herd, church and earn, and START and PALM sets - words such as car, sharp and large or half, father and drama. It is easier to distinguish between someone from Tyneside and an RP speaker, because the number of lexical sets for which different vowel sounds are used by each group is far greater. Use the right-hand column and return to the home map to hear recordings of speakers who use different vowels in certain sets.
| lexical set (key word) | spelling alternatives | IPA symbol | Sound File | Recordings where pronunciation differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KIT | king, symphony, village, kitchen note also minute, women, enthusiasm, England and conservative pronunciations of words with a weak vowel such as hopeless, fitness, private, problem, toilet |
/ɪ/ |
|
|
conservative RP DRESS |
pen, bread, any note also friend, bury, leisure, Geoffrey, says, said and unstressed forms of ate & again |
/e/ |
and it was only when his descendant, the first Earl of Leicester |
|
| DRESS | pen, bread, any note also friend, bury, leisure, Geoffrey, says, said and unstressed forms of ate & again |
/ɛ/ |
|
|
conservative RP TRAP |
glad note also timbre, plait |
/æ/ |
||
| TRAP | glad note also timbre, plait |
/a/ |
granite-faced officials standing on the platform above, uh, Lenin’s tomb |
|
| STRUT | cup, brother, double, blood note also does |
/ʌ/ |
|
|
| LOT | dog, want, laurel note also knowledge, bureaucracy |
/ɒ/ |
I got involved with a, a sort of spin-off of Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp |
|
conservative RP CLOTH |
off, salt, cough, austere |
/ɔ:/ |
||
| CLOTH | off, salt, cough, austere |
/ɒ/ |
|
|
| FOOT | cushion, book, woman, should note also Worcester |
/ʊ/ |
|
|
contemporary female RP FOOT |
cushion, book, woman, should note also Worcester |
/ɵ/ |
||
| FLEECE | keep, bead, scene, machine, piece, receive note also key, quay, people, phoenix |
/i:/ |
|
|
| BATH | glass note also laugh |
/ɑ:/ |
for example in France, Germany, Italy and particularly places like Spain and Portugal |
|
| PALM | rather, half note also aunt |
/ɑ:/ |
|
|
| START | barn, heart, clerk note also French loan words such as reservoir & memoir |
/ɑ:/ |
|
|
| NORTH | cork, door, board, war |
/ɔ:/ |
uhm, but, uh, we were ordained in the May of nineteen-ninety-four |
|
| THOUGHT | brought, caught, talk, draw note also broad, water |
/ɔ:/ |
|
|
| NURSE | serve, bird, hurt, learn, work, journey note also colonel & myrtle |
/ə:/ |
and I think in turn that was more diverse than it was a generation before that |
|
| GOOSE | moon, super, move, glue, fruit, brew note also shoe and beauty |
/ʋ:/ |
we’d still be junior to the new steward two, who had just joined a year ago |
|
contemporary RP GOOSE |
moon, super, move, glue, fruit, brew note also shoe and beauty |
/ʉ:/ |
my, uh, grandparents, uh, moved down to, uhm, the Sussex coast |
|
conservative RP FACE |
game, tray, plain, reign, they, great note also gauge, gaol and French loan words such as café, ballet & foyer |
/eɪ/ |
||
| FACE | game, tray, plain, reign, they, great note also gauge, gaol and French loan words such as café, ballet & foyer |
/ɛɪ/ |
Cardiff looks a great deal better now than it did when I first came to Wales |
|
| GOAT | home, show, boat, toe note also sew, brooch, mauve and French loan words such as plateau |
/əʊ/ |
|
|
conservative RP GOAL |
hole, roll, bowl, shoulder |
/əʊ/ |
and one of his sons married a Miss Wheatley who owned property at Holkham |
|
| GOAL | hole, roll, bowl, shoulder |
/ɔʊ/ |
Burnham Thorpe | |
| PRICE | mind, lie, shy, night note also I, eye, buy, either, height, aisle, maestro and German loan words such as zeitgeist |
/ʌɪ/ |
uhm, and that is because I think they have been quite rightly criticised |
|
| MOUTH | shout, down |
/ɑʊ/ |
|
|
| CHOICE | coin, toy note also buoy |
/ɔɪ/ |
|
|
| NEAR | beer, clear, here note also weird and words such as brilliant, idea, area, stadium, spaniel, creosote, onion and lascivious |
/ɪə/ |
||
| contemporary RP NEAR | beer, clear, here note also weird and words such as brilliant, idea, area, stadium, spaniel, creosote, onion and lascivious |
/ɪ:/ |
|
|
conservative RP SQUARE |
stare, chair, where, bear, heir note also aeroplane, mayor, prayer and French loan words such as premiere |
/ɛə/ |
||
| SQUARE | stare, chair, where, bear, heir note also aeroplane, mayor, prayer and French loan words such as premiere |
/ɛ:/ |
the children could grow up together; we could share child-care, share gardening |
|
| CURE | poor, tour, sure, during note also words such as fuel, casual, incongruous and jewel |
/ʊə/ |
||
contemporary RP CURE |
poor, tour, sure, during note also words such as fuel, casual, incongruous and jewel |
/ɔ:/ |
|
The Pronunciation of Weak Syllables in RP
| lexical set (key word) | spelling alternatives | IPA symbol | Sound File | Recordings where pronunciation differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
conservative RP happY |
happY, beautiful, valley, coffee, bodies note also yesterday and days of the week such as Monday |
/ɪ/ |
||
| happY | happy, beautiful, valley, coffee, bodies note also yesterday and days of the week such as Monday |
/i/ |
|
|
| lettER~commA | paper, centre, leisure, colour, doctor, sugar, martyr, zebra |
/ə/ |
|
|
| horsES | 3rd person suffix in verbs such as pushes and plural suffix in nouns such as foxes and daisies |
/ɪ/ |
on the seven-o-seven there were six of us: three stewards and three stewardesses |
|
| wastED | past tense marker in verbs such as landed and participial adjectives such as excited |
/ɪ/ |
North Elmham | |
| longEST, chickEN, servICE, mallET, villAGE, massIVE etc. | the suffix in superlatives such as biggest and adjectives such as active and the final syllable of nouns such as surface, office, pocket, college, sausage, forest and biscuit |
/ɪ/ |
head cook and kitchen-maid but I don't think that means it's a global village when the time came for the meal service, all the trays went out by hand |
|
conservative RP privATE, problEM, toilET, countLESS, kindNESS etc. |
the suffix in adjectives such as useless and fairness and the final syllable of nouns such as system, purchase, business and place-names such as Hampstead and Athens |
/ɪ/ |
which in those days was private and provided you can have a system with excellence |
|
| privATE, problEM, toilET, countLESS, kindNESS etc. | the suffix in adjectives such as useless and fairness and the final syllable of nouns such as system, purchase, business and place-names such as Hampstead and Athens |
/ə/ |
and so then they decided to try and solve this problem through what was known as the Club System |
Hilton |
| CONtinue, COMputer etc. | the prefix in verbs such as complain and confirm, adjectives such as complete and contented and nouns such as component and container |
/ə/ |
Byker |
Examples of Lexical Variation in RP
| key word | other examples | IPA symbol | Sound File | Recordings where pronunciation differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| one etc. | the words one, once, none and nothing |
/ʌ/ although one can also be /ɒ/ |
I was quite shy to begin with, but I suppose one got used to it if one looked at it from completely the other side |
|
| directory etc | adjectives such as direct, economical and financial and nouns such as digestive, direction, directory, finance and economics |
short vowel vs.long vowel |
my father inherited; he was the direct successor to Coke of Norfolk I mean, first of all there's the, sort of, straightforward economic thing probably economic circumstances and, and less good education in previous generations that one and threepence per fortnight for the family was a financial barrier |
|
| TRANSplant etc | the prefix in verbs such as transfer and transform and nouns such as transport |
/a/ vs /ɑ/ |
at the time I was just, kind of, drinking it all up; I was just transfixed by it Information Technology and Communications have completely transformed the nature of society |
|
| circumSTANCE, subSTANTIAL, etc | the suffix stance and derivatives in words such as circumstance, circumstantial and substantial |
/a/ vs /ɑ/ although circumstance can also be/ə/ |
and there were particular personal circumstances why, why one woman was not ordained at that time probably economic circumstances and, and less good education in previous generations |
|
| room etc | words such as bridegroom, broom and room |
/ʊ/ Vs /u:/ |
in the next-door room here we have the most up-to-date equipment and IT uh, my third year, I've got my own room now |
