12/5/2017 Received Pronunciation

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Received Pronunciation Phonology

The Consonant Sounds of RP RP
RP Vowel Sounds
The table below lists all 24 consonants as pronounced in an RP accent. Every
RP Consonants
English accent contains these same 24 consonants, but not all speakers
pronounce them in the same way. Click on a sound file to listen to an RP RP Connected Speech
Process
speaker using the target consonant.

The left-hand column lists the consonants using a simple orthographic

representation with all the possible spellings in column two. The symbol used
in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is in column three. You will find
these IPA symbols in a dictionary where pronunciations of words are included.
Use the right-hand column and return to the home map to hear recordings of
speakers whose pronunciation differs.

Additional consonants
Some speakers in Scotland and Northern Ireland have two additional
consonants - the <hw> sound used in words like whisper and when and the
guttural sound used for the final consonant in the Scots word loch. The IPA
symbol for <hw> is /?/. Speakers in Scotland and Northern Ireland may well,
therefore, distinguish between words such as which and witch or whine and
wine. The IPA symbol for the consonant in loch is /x/. This sound is used very
rarely - most commonly on the exclamation, och, or on place names, such as
Auchtermuchty and occasionally on local dialect words or on words of Gaelic
origin. Many speakers in Wales on the other hand use 25 consonants - the
same inventory as RP but with an additional <hl> sound. This sound is
restricted to place names such as Llanelli. The IPA symbol for this consonant
is // and many speakers in England have great difficulty pronouncing it.

consonant spelling alternatives IPA Sound File Recordings

symbol where
pronunciation
differs

<p> pack /p/ would, uh, Stannington

leap up with Byker
happy a little note- Whitehaven
pad Middlesbrough
note also the <p> sound in hiccough North Elmham
Norwich
MMB Hackney
Peckham

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consonant spelling alternatives IPA Sound File Recordings

symbol where
pronunciation
differs

<b> back, rabbit /b/ was in the

new boys'
booklet when
we came

<k> cut, kiss, lucky, occur, stomach, cheque, /k/ were Stannington
Iraq, pukka striking up a Byker
conversation Whitehaven
note also the <kw> sound in words Middlesbrough
such as queen & acquire and the <ks> Birkenhead
sound in words like six North Elmham
Norwich
Peckham
Bangor
Bleanish
Island

<g> gut, buggy, ghost, guitar /g/ ll give you a

tenner if I
gut, buggy, ghost, guitar note also the can smash
<gz> sound in words like exit two eggs
over your
head

<t> tip, matter, thyme /t/ trolleys Stannington

came in later Byker
note also the <t> sound in past tenses Middlesbrough
such as jumped Whitehaven
Birkenhead
North Elmham
Norwich
Peckham
Bangor

see also T-
tapping, T-
voicing and T-
glottaling
connected
speech
processes

<d> dip, ladder /d/ s difficult

really, cause
there are
two sides to
me: one; Im
still appalled
at the quality
of what we
build

<f> fast, phrase, office, cough, sapphire /f/ the flights

were not
always full

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consonant spelling alternatives IPA Sound File Recordings

symbol where
pronunciation
differs

<v> vast, savvy, of /v/ remember

my house in
note also the <v> sound in conservative Sennybridge
pronunciations of the word nephew very vividly

<s> sip, science, cease, class, psychology /s/ the seven-o-

seven there
note also the <ks> sound in words like were six of
six us, three
stewards
and three
stewardesses

<z> zip, rose, fizz, scissors /z/ seen as quite Aberhosan

bizarre Lerwick
note also the <gz> sound in words like having, uhm, Uig
exit boys, you Londonderry
know share
after the, at
the age of
sixteen

<th> thin // to a certain Portesham

point Lissummon
everything Bleanish
that we did Island
and built
was of the TH-fronting
earth Withernsea
Burnley
Danesford
Gloucester
Bristol
Plymouth
MMB Hackney
Peckham
Canterbury

<dh> then // the rest of Withernsea

the day Burnley
either in the Danesford
garden or Gloucester
helping my Bristol
mother and Plymouth
father in the MMB Hackney
shop Peckham
Canterbury

TH-fronting
MMB Hackney
Peckham

<sh> shed, machine, mission, station, // putting

tension, species, ocean, conscience, animals into
sugar, fascist, schedule sheds that
they couldnt
also the <ksh> sound in luxury and the muck out
<sh> sound in contemporary with a
pronunciations of words such as tissue machine

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consonant spelling alternatives IPA Sound File Recordings

symbol where
pronunciation
differs

<zh> genre, pleasure, montage, seizure // sually just

going down
note also the <zh> sound in to the beach
contemporary pronunciations of words and, and
such as casual getting
cockles or
swimming

<ch> chat, match, nature, righteous of the

chapels in
also the <ch> sound in contemporary Wales will
pronunciations of words such as tune, close down;
in Italian loan words such as concerto most of the
and cappuccino and in most churches will
pronunciations of words beginning probably,
orthographically with <tr-> such as too
tree and truck

<j> job, gin, bridge, suggest, adjective // d still be Aberhosan

junior to the
note also the <j> sound in new steward
contemporary pronunciations of words two had just
such as soldier and dune and in most joined a year
pronunciations of words beginning ago
orthographically with <dr-> such as
drink and drug

<m> mat, summer, climb, autumn /m/ for two-and-

a-half
months first
of all over
the summer

<n> net, funny, knife, gnat, pneumonia /n/ know, I

mean, in the
next ten
years or so

<ng> finger // think Id see

myself as
being quite
easy-going

<l> let, silly // sort of list of L-vocalisation

about eleven SED Hackney
words we MMB Hackney
had to learn Peckham
Bristol
Canterbury
East Harting
Milland

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consonant spelling alternatives IPA Sound File Recordings

symbol where
pronunciation
differs

<r> right, write, hurry, rhyme // barring a Canterbury

religious Aberhosan
note also the linking <r> sound in revival, Lerwick
phrases such as car insurance, burglar that's going Portsoy
alarm etc. to happen Selkirk
Bleanish
Island

see also
R-tapping
in connected
speech
processes

<h> hat /h/ son H-dropping

eventually Withernsea
came to live Welwick
in a small Read
house called Burnley
Hill Hall Nottingham
Boston
Birmingham
Hilton
Danesford
Warmington
Banbury
Melksham
Portesham
Peter Tavy
SED Hackney
MMB Hackney
East Harting
Milland
Maerdy
Cardiff

<y> yet /j/ you really

can let your
also the <y> sound in words such as whims rule
few, new, music, tune and in some
pronunciations of words like onion,
brilliant etc.

<w> wet, when /w/ take fifteen Lerwick

months and Uig
note also the <kw> sound in words see the world Portsoy
such as queen and choir, the <gw> and do as Stonehaven
sound in words like penguin, the <sw> many kind of Glasgow
sound in words like persuade, the wild and Kilmarnock
initial <w> sound in one and once and whacky New Cumnock
the <w> sound in French loan words things as you Dalmellington
such as reservoir and memoir can Selkirk
Ballymoney
Lissummon
Bleanish
Island

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