Specific features of american english pronunciation. Introduction

SPECIFIC FEATURES OF AMERICAN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I . RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION AS A STANDARD OF BRITISH PRONUNCIATION
1.1 Research history of the British origin standard
1.2 Variants of standard pronunciation
CHAPTER II . PHONETIC FEATURES OF RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION
2.1 Characteristics of consonants and vowels
2.2 Phonetic analysis of the speech of Elizabeth I
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHIC LIST

INTRODUCTION
It is well known that English is considered to be the world language due to a number of geographical, historical and socio-cultural factors. 1.5 billion people in the world speak English, another billion are learning it. Today, English is the third most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish. It owes such "popularity" to English colonization, the high status of English-speaking countries on the world stage. 
One of the features of the English language is its heterogeneity, since there are a diverse number of variants of English, different in sound, grammar and vocabulary. Great Britain can be safely called a country of dialects, and even the speech of the inhabitants of London, which throughout history was considered the “most correct”, cannot be called the norm. Dialects in Britain have great cultural significance and are very popular, but still, there is a standard variant that does not have a regional footing. This unaccented variety of English is commonly called "Queen's English", known in linguistics as "Received Pronunciation" (RP). Until recently, RP was considered a sign of a high level of education, good origin and upbringing, its presence indicated a high social and professional status of the speaker. After all, according to statistics, only about 3% of English speakers can boast of owning a “royal” pronunciation. 
However, now the situation is changing radically. Among the British, not only supporters of the "royal English" stand out, but also opponents. The latter consider that it is necessary to preserve regional linguistic diversity and there is no need for some generalized linguistic norm. But, despite this trend, one should not belittle the importance of RP, which, although currently at the center of numerous discussions and disputes, still remains a reference point for foreigners studying English.
The purpose of the study is to study the characteristics of "Received Pronunciation" and the changes that have taken place in this standard. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
- consider the pronunciation norm of the English language standard at the present stage of its development;
- to study modifications in the system of the standard of British pronunciation;
- to analyze the speech of Elizabeth II in 1952, 1989 and 2011 for compliance with the British RP pronunciation standard.
Object of research: characteristics of the standard of British pronunciation .
Subject of study: changes taking place in the standard of British origin (RP).
The work uses such methods as the analysis method, the method of comparing the literature of domestic and foreign authors on the research topic, the method of mathematical statistics.
The theoretical basis of the study is the scientific works of domestic and Among the information sources of the course work, scientific sources were used: data and information from books, journal articles, scientific reports of specialists involved in work in this field.
The structure of the course work. The course work consists of an introduction, one chapter, consisting of four sections, a conclusion, a bibliographic list and an appendix.
The introduction justifies the choice of research topic; the goals and objectives of the course work are formulated; the main provisions put forward for defense are stated, the main methods used in the work and the names of scientists whose works formed the theoretical basis are listed.
In the main part, Received Pronunciation is characterized, its features as a whole and the distinctive features of RP at the present stage are identified, a phonetic comparative analysis of the addresses of Elizabeth II is carried out, and on its basis a list of the main changes that have occurred with the British pronunciation standard RP has been compiled.
In conclusion, the results of the study are summarized.
The bibliography contains the works of domestic and foreign authors in the field of Received Pronunciation.

CHAPTER I . RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION AS A STANDARD OF BRITISH PRONUNCIATION

1.1 Research history of the British origin standard
When people talk about modern literary English, they first of all mean standard English, Standard English. This term conveys the concepts of "literary norm", "accepted pattern of speech communication", in other words, it is a set of phonetic, grammatical and lexical rules that native speakers adhere to in oral and written speech. Standard English is a dialect that does not belong to any territory and is used everywhere where English is spoken and written, while its speakers can also speak with a regional accent. Standard English has the features of an international norm, which is understood as “a conscious choice and implementation of the phonetic means of a language, based on the criteria of mutual intelligibility, structural similarity and commonality of a single standardized literary language”. It is considered a model for teaching the native language as well as teaching foreign students. In addition, this dialect is a means of classifying a person on a territorial and social basis.
Received Pronunciation is the standard pronunciation that is currently the national pronunciation norm. This type of pronunciation developed in the middle of the 14th century on the basis of the southeastern dialect, and for several centuries was used in the speech of the English aristocracy. By the beginning of the 19th century, this type of pronunciation began to be taught in private privileged schools, which was available only to children from the upper strata of society.
Thus, RP became a dialect of the upper social class. RP is sometimes called "Oxford" English, due to the widespread use of the "standard" language by the university, since all published literary products, in particular dictionaries and other scientific publications, are still published in standardized English to this day.
The concept of "Received Pronunciation" was introduced by the dialectologist AJ Ellis, who first used RP in 1869 in On Early English Phonetics.
Before the term “RP” was coined, the term “The Queen's English” was used. The speech of the Queen and her Court acquired prestige and began to serve as a role model as early as the 16th and 17th centuries. The phrase "The King's English" first occurs during the reign of James I, and, as noted in the Oxford Companion to the English Language, the first references to this expression are made in W. Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" - in the phrase Mistress Quickly “here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the king's English”.
The fact that these terms have always been associated with the best version of English is also evidenced by the titles of later textbooks and books on “correct speech”, which are called “A Plea for the Queen's English” (1863) by Henry Alford and “The King's English” (1906) H. and F. Fowler.
But the term RP received wider use, this happened thanks to Daniel Jones and the publication of the second publication of the English Pronouncing Dictionary in 1924. If we compare the description of RP given by D. Jones in different editions of the English Pronouncing Dictionary, we can see that how this conservative and prestigious dialect has changed over time, and how the attitude of speakers has changed towards it. In the second edition of the dictionary in 1924, when characterizing RP, Jones emphasizes the fact that RP is mainly used by those who study in privileged private schools and is the result of a class stratification of society: "The pronunciation represented in this book is that most usually heard in everyday speech in the of Southern English persons whose men-folk have been educated at the great families public boarding-schools. This pronunciation is also used by a considerable proportion of those who do not come from the South of England, but who have been educated at these schools..It is probably accurate to say that a majority of those members of London society who have had a university education, use either this pronunciation or a pronunciation not differing greatly from it. The form of pronunciation” [21, p. 311]. In 1997, the fifteenth edition of the same dictionary writes about the pronunciation standard: "The time has come to abandon the archaic name Received Pronunciation. The model used for British English is that is referred to as BBC English; this is the pronunciation of professional speakers employed by BBC as newsreaders and announcers.,
But not all phoneticians agreed with this definition and, thus, completely different views arose on the classification of the British pronunciation standard