1. Territorial and social variations in the pronunciation of English in different countries.

A number of geographical-histotical and socio-cultural factors caused Eglish to become a global language. English consists of many varieties, each distinctive in its use of sounds, grammar and vocabulary.

In geographical variation we distinguish 2 basic concepts: Dialect, Accent.

Dialect is distinguished for its voc-ry, grammar, pronunciation. So there is British Eng and American Eng. (ing-in –lookin(g), walkin(g), h-drop (ham-‘am)).

Accent is a type of pronunciation which can be focused in the speech of any individual or the whole speech community. Social markers: vowels, consonants, word-stress, rhythm, intonaion. Accents: inner, outer, expanding circle. Inner circle-RP (received pronunciation).

Native E-Accents: British oriented (the UK, Australia, New Zealand); North-America oriented (USA, Canada). Within each country national standards, regional standards and local accents reflect both geographical and social diversity. National stan­dards: RP, GA, Gen Aus, Gen Can. Regional standards in U.K.: Southern, Northern, Scottish, Northern Irish. Regional standards in U.S.A.: North­ern, Northern Midland, Southern Midland, Southern, Western. National standards are associated with radio and TV newsreaders, certain profes­sional groups and public figures. Regional standards are spoken by most educated people and they show regional deviation from the standard. In U.K. people in the South-East of the country are closest to RP, in the U.S.A. it is people from the North, North Midland and the West who show the least differences from the unofficial standard of American Network. Local accents are numerous, they can be urban and rural. Urban centres are leading in accent diversity today.

There is a close connection between language and social class; speech stratification correlates with social stratification. The most powerful stratifying social factor is occupation; age and gen­der factors come next. Those are status factors, they are of permanent nature. Situational factors are more changeable: sphere of communica­tion, setting, media, social role, topic and aim of the talk. Among the sit­uational factors social roles of authority/non-authority, or of equal status, are most relevant for phonetic features.

Nowadays two main types of English are spoken in the English-speaking world: British English and American English.

According to British dialectologists (P. Trudgill, J. Hannah, A. Hughes and others), the following variants of English are referred to the English-based group: English English, Welsh English, Australian English, New Zealand English; to the American-based group: United States English, Canadian English. Scottish English and Ireland English fall somewhere between the two, being somewhat by themselves.

According to M. Sokolova and others, English English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Northern Irish English should be better combined into the British English subgroup, on the ground of political, geographical, cultural unity which brought more similarities - then differences for those variants of pronunciation.

2. The orthoepic norm of English (rp) and its types: conservative, general, advanced. New tendencies in Standard English pronunciation.

RP is a social prestige accent spoken by a tiny minority of the population.

RP – received pronunciation. Or BBC English in the UK. Originates from the south-east (London). It’s a social-prestige accent spoken by a tiny minority of the population, estimated at 3-5%only. It may show a great deal about the social and educational background of a person who uses English. A person using the RP will typically speak Standard English although the reverse is not necessarily true (i.e., the standard language may be spoken in regional accents). Researchers generally distinguish between three different forms of RP: Conservative lawyers/clergy, General(mainstream) – BBC newsreaders, and Advanced. Conservative RP refers to a traditional accent associated with older speakers with certain social backgrounds; General RP is often considered neutral regarding age, occupation, or lifestyle of the speaker; and Advanced RP refers to speech of a younger generation of speakers.(poor conserv/mainstream – [puə], advanced – [po:]. Another classification(Crutenden): General RP, Refined RP and Regional RP(social&regional accent classification). Refined RP here is an upper-class accent, the number of speakers using it is declining, it’s regarded as affected. Its features are: [ëυ] in so, go, a very open [ε] and [I] in better, letter, city, very open [ə::] in all positions, as in first, nurse, a diphtongized [æ ə] in I don’t understand Picasso.

Regional RP features may come unnoticed as vocalization of dark [l] to [υ] in held, ball (a southern feature) ar [a/æ] used instead of [ α:] before voiceless fricatives in after, bath (a northern feature); other features may be stigmatized, such as glotolization of t between two vowels, as in waiter (cockney), or no distinction between [Λ] and [υ] in luck, look (northern).

Estuary English features: dark [l] replaced by [u] in field, [t] is glottalized before a consonant and before a pause in not that, eat ice; Cockney-type diphthongs [ai] in late, [oi] in light, t and d pronounced as affricates in tune, during, elision of [j] after [n] in new.

Other characteristic claimed for Estuary English may be changes in progress in General RP. Intonation features: falling tone in tag questions: The postman came knocking on the door, `didn’t he?; preposition and auxiliary verb accenting: I didn’t do anything because there was nothing TO do.

It is common knowledge that language exists in two forms: written and spoken. Any manifestation of language by means of speech is the result of a highly complicated series of events. The literary spoken form has its national pronunciation standard. A "standard" may be defined as "a socially accepted variety of a language established by a codified norm of correctness".

It is generally accepted that for the "English English" it is "Received Pronunciation" or RP.

Standard national pronunciation is sometimes called an "orthoepic norm"'. Some phoneticians, however, prefer the term "literary pronunciation".

Received Pronunciation may be referred to as the Queen's (or King's) English, on the grounds that it is spoken by the monarch. It is also sometimes referred to as BBC English, because it was traditionally used by the BBC, yet nowadays this is slightly misleading. Queen Elizabeth II uses a specific form of English, and the BBC is no longer restricted to one type of accent, nor is "Oxbridge" (the universities of Oxford and Cambridge).The RP is a form of pronunciation, not a dialect (a form of vocabulary and grammar). It may show a great deal about the social and educational background of a person who uses English. A person using the RP will typically speak Standard English although the reverse is not necessarily true.RP is often believed to be based on Southern accents, but in fact it has most in common with the dialects of the south-east Midlands: Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire. Usage

Today, overall, RP has three different forms: Conservative RP, Mainstream RP and Contemporary (or Advanced) RP.

Conservative RP refers to a traditional accent which is associated with older speakers and the aristocracy. This is sometimes known as "High British". RP is not the accent of any particular locality, yet it is closer to the native accent of some counties than others. A strong RP accent usually indicates someone who went to a public school.

Mainstream RP is an accent that is often considered neutral regarding age, occupation or lifestyle of the speaker, whilst Contemporary RP refers to speakers using features typical of younger-generation speakers. However, these days, there is almost no difference between those two.