accent
noun /ˈæksent/, /ˈæksənt/
/ˈæksent/, /ˈæksənt/
- a way of pronouncing the words of a language that shows which country, area or social class a person comes from; how well somebody pronounces a particular language
- a northern/Dublin/Scottish accent
- a strong/broad accent (= one that is easy to notice)
- with an accent She spoke English with an accent.
- The Americans had learned Korean and spoke with a good accent.
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Culture Received PronunciationReceived PronunciationReceived Pronunciation, often called RP, is the accent that is widely accepted as the standard accent in British English, although only a tiny percentage of British people speak with an RP accent. Pronunciations given in most dictionaries are RP, or an adapted form of it.RP is a social accent not linked to any particular region of Britain, though it developed originally from the form of Middle English spoken around London. At that time London was the economic centre of England and the place where people were trained for professions such as the law. From the 15th century it became a centre for publishing. RP was the accent of upper-class people, and of the most highly educated people. The connection between RP and education was important in establishing the accent.People became increasingly conscious of accent and by the late 19th century it was considered necessary to adopt RP and lose any regional accent in order to have a successful career, especially in the army or government. RP was spread among children of the upper and upper middle classes through the public school system. Others took elocution lessons in order to learn to speak ‘properly’. Later, RP was taught in state schools. The public school accent and the Oxford accent, the accent adopted by some members of Oxford University, which many former public school pupils attended, are now considered by many to be rather artificial.The RP spoken by members of the upper class, including older members of the royal family, is called advanced RP or marked RP. Many people think that, like the Oxford accent, it doesn't sound natural. It may be described as ‘ clipped ’ if it is spoken with a tight mouth, or ‘ plummy ’ if it sounds as though the speaker had a plum in his or her mouth. Marked RP has particular vowel sounds, for example the ‘a’ in sat sounds more like the ‘e’ in set, the short ‘o’ in cost sounds like the long ‘o’ in for, and really sounds more like rarely.The status of RP became stronger in the 1920s after the BBC began radio broadcasts. For a long time announcers spoke with RP accents, and the accent became known as the BBC accent. Standard English, the form of English grammar considered correct, is, when spoken with an RP accent, sometimes called BBC English, Oxford English, or the Queen's/King's English.Today the BBC uses many announcers with regional accents. As a result there is now a much greater acceptance of non-RP accents. Many people now speak a modified form of RP with some regional characteristics.Extra ExamplesTopics Languageb2- He lost his accent after moving to the capital.
- He spoke with a cut-glass English accent.
- Her French was excellent, without a trace of an accent.
- She had a pronounced Scottish accent.
- She put on a Southern accent when she answered the phone.
- She spoke in a broad Midlands accent.
- Where are you from? I can't place your accent.
- a tall man with a Canadian accent
- It was a fine performance from Diaz, despite her poor Irish accent.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- broad
- heavy
- marked
- …
- hint
- trace
- have
- speak in
- speak with
- …
- in an accent
- with an accent
- without an accent
- …
- the emphasis that you should give to part of a word when saying it synonym stress
- In ‘today’ the accent is on the second syllable.
- a mark on a letter to show that it should be pronounced in a particular way
- Canapé has an accent on the ‘e’.
- [singular] a special importance that is given to something synonym emphasis
- In all our products the accent is on quality.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘intonation’): from Latin accentus ‘tone, signal, or intensity’ (from ad- ‘to’ + cantus ‘song’), translating Greek prosōidia ‘a song sung to music, intonation’.