Modern RP and the (re)creation of social distinction

Holmes-Elliott, Sophie; Levon, Erez (2024). Modern RP and the (re)creation of social distinction. Language Variation and Change Cambridge University Press 10.1017/S0954394524000097

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While the loss of regional distinctiveness across the southeastern UK is well studied and largely undisputed, there is less consensus about class-based divisions. This paper investigates this question through an updated analysis of the variety emblematic of Britain’s upper class: Received Pronunciation (RP). While previous studies have suggested levelling in RP to a broader standard southeastern norm, our findings indicate that the most recent advances in the variety show it (re)differentiating itself from other varieties in the region. Investigating both individual vowel movements and broader system-wide properties, we argue that the changes observed in RP today result from speakers adopting a particular articulatory setting (lax voice), which has subsequent ramifications on vowel realisations. We suggest that speakers make strategic use of this articulatory setting as a way of embodying an elite persona in the British context, an interpretation that resonates with the social distributions of similar changes in other varieties.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Other Institutions > Walter Benjamin Kolleg (WBKolleg) > Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS)

UniBE Contributor:

Levon, Erez

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
400 Language
400 Language > 410 Linguistics
400 Language > 420 English & Old English languages

ISSN:

0954-3945

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Erez Levon

Date Deposited:

24 Jan 2024 12:29

Last Modified:

29 May 2024 15:35

Publisher DOI:

10.1017/S0954394524000097

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Received Pronunciation, British English, articulatory setting, embodiment, distinction

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/192067

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/192067

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