Some Vowel Changes in Received Pronunciation

Abstract

English is a global language which is being taught all over the world. In Britain Received Pronunciation is adopted as a model for foreign language teaching, although very few people speak it. When teaching English as a foreign language, it is impossible to teach students different variants or dialects. There is only one pronunciation model that students can learn, that is Received Pronunciation (RP). The article deals with some vowel changes that happened recently in Received Pronunciation (RP), namely fronting of / u: / and / ʊ / vowels, the shift of vowels / æ/ into / a /, / e / into /ɛ/, / aɪ / into /ʌɪ/, the tendency of diphthongs to be pronounced as long vowels and HAPPY-tensing. These tendencies have become well-established and are widely used by young and middle aged generations. So, most dictionaries have already accepted these changes and new symbols are being used.The aim of this research is to explore aspects of these changes. Here we talked about some new tendencies in the vowel inventory of Recieved Pronunciation. These tendencies were changes in the quantity and quality of cardinal vowels. We have also witnessed tectonic changes in the simbolic system of the English vowels. There is also emprical basis of the research which analyses the speech of different speakers taken from BBC. Interstingly, these new changes are not being taken into account in EFL classes very well, despite the fact that RP is the best accent to teach to foreign students. The traditional symbols which are widely used today are a phonetic reflection of an older version of the prestigious British pronunciation. It can be assumed that there is no need to change the simple and traditional variant that reflects the phonetic reality. However, the time has come for a fundamental change in the symbolic system of English vowels.The change of / æ / to / a / in the word TRAP has already been accepted by a number of authors. The change from / e / to / ɛ / in the word DRESS was made by C. Upton [10] and supported by J.Wells [15]. Harrington J. also suggests the symbol / ɛj / in the word FACE [7]. In this article we conclude that English like other languages adapts to changing conditions and is constantly developing. The results of theoretical research help to determine its development tendency.