Chapter published in:
Late Modern English: Novel encountersEdited by Merja Kytö and Erik Smitterberg
[Studies in Language Companion Series 214] 2020
► pp. 21–41
“A received pronunciation”
Eighteenth-century pronouncing dictionaries and the precursors of RP
Joan Beal | University of Sheffield
This chapter examines the codification of English
pronunciation prior to the emergence and recognition of RP. I
analyse early citations of “received pronunciation” and contrast
these with later uses of “Received Pronunciation”. Drawing on Haugen (1966) and Milroy & Milroy (1999),
I identify the processes of standardisation and distinguish
standardisation from levelling before outlining the history of
standardisation in English. I then discuss why the need for a
standard pronunciation arose in the eighteenth century and the
criteria used to select and codify pronunciations. I conclude that
authors such as Walker and Sheridan did not succeed in implementing
a standard pronunciation, but their attempts at codification laid
the ground for the emergence of RP in the nineteenth century.
Article outline
- 1.“Received pronunciation” or “a received pronunciation”?
- 2.Standardisation: Theoretical issues
- 3.Standardisation in the history of English: An overview
- 4.Standardisation and the pronunciation of English
- 5.Defining a standard pronunciation
- 6.Codification in action: Choosing between variants
- 7.Eighteenth-century codification: RP or not RP?
-
Acknowledgements -
Notes -
References -
Electronic resources
Published online: 18 March 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.214.01bea
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.214.01bea
References
Beal, Joan C.
Boswell, James
Burn, John
Collins, Beverly & Mees, Inger
Crowley, Tony
Gimson, Alan C.
Gneuss, Helmut
Holmberg, Börje
Honey, John
Johnson, Samuel
Kenrick, William
Labov, William
Lass, Roger
Lenker, Ursula
Macaulay, Ronald K. S.
Milroy, James
Milroy, Lesley
Mugglestone, Lynda
Nevalainen, Terttu & Tieken-Boon van Ostade, Ingrid
Schwyter, Jürg R.
Sheridan, Thomas
Silverstein, Michael
Trapateau, Nicolas
Walker, John
Electronic resources
ECEP:Eighteenth-Century English
Phonology
Database
Sheffield: Digital Humanities Institute. http://www.dhi.ac.uk/ecep
OED
Online
Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
BEAL, JOAN C., RANJAN SEN, NURIA YÁÑEZ-BOUZA & CHRISTINE WALLIS
Yáñez-Bouza, Nuria
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