Do I sound cryptic? It is, in reality, a situation we come across in our day-to-day existence. RP, as language experts would tell us, is the Received Pronunciation. Received Pronunciation is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard and most prestigious form of spoken British English. According to Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1965), the word ‘received’ conveys its original meaning of ‘accepted’ or ‘approved’, as in ‘received wisdom’.”
I now come to the second RP – Regional Pronunciation or RAP – Regionally Accepted Pronunciation. Even as we speak about the importance of articulation, let us remember the fact that regionally accepted pronunciation should put us at ease, and we need not be overly conscious of our accent which might be nowhere near Received Pronunciation. It is not that I am dismissing the efforts of phoneticians who try to throw light on voiced/voiceless syllables and aspirated/unaspirated sounds. If we can master such intricacies of the language that we have chosen for communication, we can be proud of our achievement. But in case we fall short of adhering to the standards of the Queen’s English, we can take refuge in the idea that only 3% to 5% of Britons speak RP.
Goerge Bernard Shaw’s Radio Talk in 1927 titled ‘Spoken English and Broken English’ is considered outdated since a sizeable number of non-native speakers of English are found in England in contemporary times, and they use English with ease and poise. However, his ruminations over speaking ‘Good English’ and not necessarily ‘Correct English’ should help us in our dilemma when we are unable to speak English which would pass as Standard English. His contention that there is no Ideal English as no two native speakers of English speak the language in the same way should further ease our apprehension.
Let the focus be on clarity of thought, fluency of language and impressive delivery.
Caveat…
Myself Malini. I kindly request you to help me.☹️
I am Malini. I request you to help me. ????
