【BBC】Received Pronunciation 标准发⾳ Listen to the Queen speaking RP in this programme
Received Pronunciation标准发⾳
Inrt
Happy Christmas. 25 years ago my grandfather broadcast the first of the Christmas
messages. Today is another landmark, becau television has made it possible for many
of you to e me in your homes on Christmas Day.
Feifei：以上是英国伊丽莎⽩⼥王在祝贺⼤家圣诞快乐。
Finn: A voice familiar to all British people. That broadcast comes from 1957.
Feifei：欢迎收听《你问我答》，我是冯菲菲。
Finn: And I’m Finn. Today we’ll be hearing more from the Queen as we talk about a
喉咙痛喝什么茶topic that is very popular with our audience: Received Pronunciation.
Feifei：标准发⾳Received Pronunciation, 也就是我们常说的RP. 对于学习英语的朋友们来
说，有⼀个标准的发⾳来模仿，像标准的汉语普通话⼀样，在学习的时候相对就会容易
些。赵⾬帆听友给我们发来了这样⼀个问题。
Inrt
Hello everyone, my name is Neil. I prefer the British accent and I am an English learner
in China. Someone told me something about standard Received Pronunciation. I visited
the podcast page of the BBC and downloaded some programmes but I’m still confud
about which one is standard Received Pronunciation. And could you tell me something
about which prenter should I copy in BBC programmes.
Feifei: Who accent should we be copying; yours, Will’s, mine, Helen’s, Yang Li’s,
Diarmuid’s?
王冕者
Finn: Well I would say mine of cour! No, riously I think all of our prenters
have beautiful, clear English voices and all of them are a good model. But do
we speak RP? And what exactly does RP sound like?
Feifei：正如赵⾬帆说的那样，BBC的⼴播员们现在不都是像40，50年代时播⾳员那样操有⼀⼝
标准发⾳。
Finn: Yes, in the old days all BBC announcers spoke RP.
Inrt
This is London. You will now hear a statement by the Prime Minister.
Finn: In fact becau they all spoke this way, another common name for RP
里程碑appeared: BBC English.
Feifei：下⾯请听1940年BBC ⼀位播⾳员的录⾳。清晰的语⾳，短促的元⾳，使得标准发⾳⾮常容易被识别。
Inrt
This is the BBC Home Service. Hello children everywhere. This is one of the most important days in the history of Children’s Hour. Some time ago we were honoured by
the visit to the studio of the King and Queen.
Feifei: Sounds great!
Finn: Yes, though you can tell immediately that it’s from another era.
Feifei：来⾃另⼀个时代from another era.
Finn: To many British people today, voices like the sound incredibly old-fashioned
and even a bit funny.地号
箜篌引Feifei：过时的old-fashioned.
Finn: Almost no one speaks like that today. So, has RP disappeared from Britain, or
has it changed?
Feifei：我们再来听⼀段伊丽莎⽩⼥王的讲话，因为⼀说起标准发⾳，⼥王是我们想到的第⼀个⼈。
Finn: We’re going to listen to two clips. One from 1957, and one from 2009. Now,
most people would agree that the Queen still speaks RP. But has even her RP
changed over time? Let’s listen. First 1957.
Inrt
It’s inevitable that I should em a rather remote figure to many of you. A successor to
the Kings and Queens of history. Someone who face may be familiar in newspapers
and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now, at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my own home.
Finn: That was the Queen in 1957. And now let’s listen to her again in 2009. Try
and spot how her language has changed.
Inrt
Each year that pass ems to have its own character. Some leave us with a feeling of satisfaction. Others are best forgotten. 2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular tho facing the continuing effects of the economic downturn.
Finn: So Feifei, how has it changed?
1999年是什么兔Feifei: Well, I think her voice sounds older of cour.
Finn: Older, yes.
Feifei: But also a bit more relaxed perhaps?
Finn: Yes, and there’s a reason for this. It’s to do with vowel change.
Feifei：元⾳变化。
Finn: Ok, so let’s listen to the Queen in the 1950s here:
Inrt
And that is how I imagine you now…
Friends and companions…
Finn: Let’s listen again. There is one word in particular which sounds different from
the way it is spoken today.
Inrt
And that is how I imagine you now…
Friends and companions…
Finn: Did you hear it? She said ‘and’.
Inrt
Friends and companions…
Finn: But the way it’s pronounced today is ‘and’, or even ‘and’.
Inrt
For ourlves and for others…
And saddened by the casualties…
Feifei：这些变化就在于元⾳的发⾳，字母a 从a 变成了a. 变化就在于发这个元⾳时⾆头位置的变化，以前⾆头会⾮常靠后，接近嗓⼦眼⼉a, 现在可以不过于在意的放在嘴中间a.
Finn: It’s a lazier sound, if you like. From and to and. And in fact this uh sound has
become one of the most common sounds in the English language, appearing
in many short words like a, the, of, that.
Feifei：就像Finn 说的，这个发⾳更多的出现在较短的词⾥。在很多字典⾥，这个发⾳的⾳标就像⼀个倒过来的⼩写字母e. 不过这只是近年来标准发⾳变化的⼀个。So Finn, English
is changing.
Finn: Yes, as we’ve en, even the Queen’s English is changing. So what does RP
sound like today?
Feifei：可能最接近的就是BBC ⼴播和电视的新闻播报员了。
Finn: Think about how this is different from prenters from the 40s and 50s.
Inrt
It’s six o’ clock on Thursday the 3rd of December. Good morning. This is Today with
James Naughtie and Sarah Montague…八十年代经典歌曲100道
Snow and ice hit the great Christmas getaway, some of the toughest conditions for
years…
Tonight at ten, history in the making as party leaders agree to live televid debates at
the next election…
Feifei：以上这些发⾳可以被称为现代标准发⾳。不过现在很多发⾳都多少受到了地⽅⼝⾳的影响。最后⼀位播报员就有⼀点⼉威尔⼠⼝⾳，不过发⾳还是⾮常清晰易懂的。
Finn: That’s right, this is the point. The days as long as your accent is clear, it
doesn’t matter if you don’t sound like traditional RP.
Feifei: But Finn.
Finn: Yes?
Feifei: I think Zhao Yufan would probably still like an answer to his original question:
which prenter from our programmes should he copy?
Finn: His original question. If I was learning English and I really wanted to copy one person’s voice I would say – choo one you like!
马和兔合不合Inrt
Hello this is Ask About Britain from BBC Learning English. I’m Helen.
Hello I’m Jo and you’re listening to Question and Answer of the Week from BBC Learning
English.
Hello and welcome to Ask About Britain. My name’s William Kremer.
Feifei：好了，这个问题Finn 是不会回答了。不过我同意Finn的说法，发⾳清晰，可以和他⼈交
流才是最重要的。我们⽹站上有很多可以帮助⼤家练习语⾳的栏⽬内容，各位可以登陆我
们的⽹站收听这些节⽬。Finn, you know what?
Finn: What’s that?
Feifei: I think, just for Zhao Yufan, we should make an effort to speak RP for the rest
of the programme.
Finn:(in Queen’s accent) What a wonderful idea. Now, I would like to take this
opportunity to suggest to all our listeners that they visit our website.
Feifei:(in Queen’s accent) Ah yes, splendid. The address is
Finn:(in Queen’s accent) And plea nd us an electronic mail if you have any
other questions about the English language.
Feifei:(in Queen’s accent) Oh yes, plea do. Send them to
*************************.uk
Finn:(in Queen’s accent) Good bye, good day to you all, until we meet again.
Feifei:(in Queen’s accent) Goodbye, listeners.
Finn: Goodbye.
RP – Received Prounciation
No two speakers of English speak the language identically. Every English-speaking country, and practically every region within tho countries, has a distinctive accent. It is also true that meanings of words and grammatical forms can vary from one English-speaking country to another but this article is not about all the differences between the various forms of English. It is concerned solely with the standard pronunciation of British English. This is what linguists call Received Pronunciation (RP). RP refers exclusively to pronunciation, though it can be en as analagous to Standard English (SE). Where did it come from ?
Modern RP can be described as "the speech of educated people living in London and the southeast of England and of other people elwhere who speak in this way." It developed from what was esntially a regional accent that acquired a unique level of prestige among the ruling and privileged class in 19th Century Britain, particularly in London. No specific authority gave the accent that would become RP its special status. It ems to have developed as the conquence of its geographical position surrounding the capital, and thus to the weighty affairs of the rich and powerful.
It may also be said that the development of the Public School system of the 19th Century1 (Winchester, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and so on) and the ancient universities (Oxford and Cambridge) played a part in establishing the RP accent as the 'standard' voice of the English Gentleman. The result was the marked (and today somewhat ridiculed) accent sometimes called 'ultra-
