ENGLISH VARIETIES WITHIN ENGLAND

by Leonardo, Rabellino-Soledad, Robledo and Emanuel Sánchez.

1) Received Pronunciation (RP) is the standard accent of Standard English in Great Britain, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms. "It the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England", although some have argued that it can be heard from native speakers throughout England and Wales. It is superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors have given Received Pronunciation particular prestige in some parts of Britain. It has thus been the accent of those with power, money and influence since the early to mid 20th century, though it has more recently been criticised as a symbol of undeserved privilege. However, since the 1960s, a greater permissiveness towards allowing regional English varieties has taken hold in education and the media in Britain; in some contexts, conservative RP is now perceived negatively. It is important not to confuse the notion of Received Pronunciation, as a standard accent, with the standard variety of the English language used in England that is given names such as "Standard English", "the Queen's English", "Oxford English" or "BBC English". The study of RP is concerned exclusively with pronunciation, while study of the standard language is also concerned with matters such as grammar, vocabulary and style.
Notable speakers:
John Wells has identified the following people as RP speakers:
* David Cameron, Prime Minister
* Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
* Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
2) Cockney has geographical, cultural and linguistic associations. Traditionally, it refers to people born within a certain area that are covered by "the sound of Bow bells". Geographically and culturally, it is often used to refer to working-class Londoners, particularly those in the East End. Linguistically, it can refer to the accent and form of English spoken by this group. The earliest recorded use of the term in 1362 in by William Langland and it is used to mean a small, misshapen egg, from Middle English coken (of cocks) and ey (egg) so literally "a cock's egg". In the Reeve's Taleby Geoffrey Chaucer (circa 1386), it appears as "cokenay", and the meaning is "a child tenderly brought up, an effeminate fellow, amilksop". By 1521, it was in use by country people as a derogatory reference for the effeminate town-dwellers. The region in which "Cockneys" are thought to reside is not clearly defined. A common view is that in order to be a Cockney, one must have been born within earshot of the Bow Bells. However, the church of St Mary-le-Bow was destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. Although the bells were destroyed again in 1941 in the Blitz, they had fallen silent on 13th June 1940 as part of the British anti-invasion preparations of World War II.
Famous People: Charlie Chaplin (Hollywood film star, born in Walworth) 3) Estuary English is a dialect of English widely spoken in South East England, especially along the River Thames and its estuary. Phonetician John C. Wells defines Estuary English as "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southeast of England". The name comes from the area around the Thames, particularly its Estuary. Estuary English can be heard in London, Kent, north Surrey and south Essex. Estuary English shares many features with Cockney, and there is some debate among linguists as to where Cockney speech ends and Estuary English begins. The variety first came to public prominence in an article by David Rosewarne in the Times Educational Supplement in October 1984. Rosewarne argued that it may eventually replace Received Pronunciation in the south-east. Studies have indicated that Estuary English is not a single coherent form of English; rather, the reality behind the constructconsists of some (but not all) phonetic features of working-class London speech spreading at various rates socially into middle-class speech and geographically into other accents of south-eastern England. Estuary English is widely encountered throughout the south and south-east of England, particularly among the young. Many consider it to be a working-class accent, though it is by no means limited to the working class. In the debate that surrounded a 1993 article about Estuary English, a London businessman claimed that Received Pronunciation was perceived as unfriendly, so Estuary English was now preferred for commercial purposes. Some people adopt the accent as a means of "blending in", appearing to be more working class, or in an attempt to appear to be "a common man" – sometimes this affectation of the accent is derisively referred to as "Mockney". A move away from traditional RP accents is almost universal among middle class young people.
The term "Estuary English" is sometimes used with pejorative connotations: Sally Gunnell, a former Olympic athlete who became a television presenter for Channel 4 and the BBC, quit the BBC, announcing she felt "very undermined" by the network's lack of support after she was widely criticised for her "uninspiring interview style" and "awful estuary English".