Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Shes the first person I turn to on a film. Well, after the caterers.
STEPHEN FREARS
ISBN 9780713685046
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems without the
written permission of A & C Black Publishers Limited.
Extract from Mammals Amelia Bullmore 2005. All rights whatsoever in the
work are strictly reserved and applications to perform it etc., must be made
in advance, before rehearsals begin, to Peters, Fraser & Dunlop,
Drury House, 34-43 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HA.
Extract from After Miss Julie Patrick Marber, reproduced by permission of Alan
Brodie Representation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Huge thanks to the wonderful Sam Barnett, Denise Gough, Paterson Joseph, Adrian
Scarborough and Sheridan Smith for taking part!! To all the Directors and Actors who
have endorsed this product so generously and to the anonymous 'Soundbites', for
lending your voices and stories. Graeme, our long-suffering Sound Editor for his patience
and support. Katie, our Editor, for deciphering the squiggles ... and Suzi, our Publicist. To
Gresby Nash, for helping us devise the Demo. To Isobel Overton, Joan Washington and
Julia Wilson-Dickson for teaching me (Penny) and to our lovely husbands, Nick and
Jesse, for not leaving us, but holding us up.
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cd contents
duration
1 General Introduction: Gwyneth and Penny 1 min 47 secs
introduction to rp
The accent of Received Pronunciation RP provides a benchmark or reference point
for all other varieties of spoken English. This standardisation of English speech is
especially relevant for the Actor or drama student, as RP offers a springboard into all
regional dialects and foreign accents and helps build a vocal foundation block for
performance.
It is essential for the modern Actor to recognise that the social accent of RP is always
on the move. Like all other accents it is alive and breathing, constantly modifying to
suit current trends and influences in language changes in idiom (manner of speech),
syntax (word order) and choices of vocabulary (the words themselves). In fact, as the
DIALECTS of language shift, so do the ACCENTS and for as long as words are being
shaped by human mouths, their sounds cannot remain static.
For 150 years of fairly recent modern history, during the rise and fall of the British
Empire and the two World Wars and their aftermath, (The Great War 19141918 and
The Second World War 19391945), a complex, refined accent rose through the ranks
of speech, upwardly modifying. This mode of pronunciation became as easy to define,
label and grade as did the occupation and status of the speaker. The phonetician
Daniel Jones initially referred to this emerging sound as Public School English. Other
defining titles included Oxford English, Cultured English, Kings/Queens English,
Prestigious and even Posh English. The final stamp of approval came in the 1920s,
when the writer, Nancy Mitford author of Love in a Cold Climate, introduced the term
RP Received Pronunciation. The accent was earmarked as being a mode of polite
and refined pronunciation to be accepted and approved by the educated middle
class society of the day. The accent of RP became a meal ticket to success and social
standing and it came in two flavours Marked RP was the accent of the aristocracy
and upper classes and Unmarked RP was the accent of the professional classes and
anyone who tried to emulate it.
This was a period of time when England was a Country where everyone knew their
place. RP was worn by the speaker like a uniform, with a disciplined delivery of thought
before comment that flagged a rigidity of form and style. There was an economy of
sense over sound, reining in the emotion and imparting the facts, by moving rapidly
from cut-glass T to T. The Actor can concentrate on skipping from Consonant to
Consonant, as if there were no Vowels in the words at all and notice how unemotional
the voice becomes. Vowel sounds particularly the diphthongs had their wings
clipped, aided by a hold in the facial muscles that indicated that all was well, even if
it wasnt. This patriotic denial of emotion has been termed a lateral fix or stiff upper
lip syndrome and presents a projected detachment, more silver than gold in its
resonances. As an exercise, the Actor can apply a face mask, wait until it hardens and
then work through this vocal boundary with breath and dexterity of tongue tip.
Imagining a favourite smell can help lift and open the throat and soft palate muscles,
to increase the dimension of tone.
This is NOT the accent of modern RP. What we are experiencing today and over the
last 25 years or so, is a modifying away from a more traditional, social sound towards
a more regional base. The tongue is dropping lower in the mouth, the Vowels are
lengthening and widening and the Consonants, especially final ones, are softening or
being lost altogether. The pace of life is speedier and the various modes of
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ju 2 If you knew that dubious tune, Id assume you were a new student.
3 If good cookery books could push their looks, they would never be full of
sugar.
5 Bored with all the talking, my small daughters jaw opened more with a
yawn.
7 Toms dog Oscar squatted down and watched him shop for hot sausages.
8 Margarets car drove fast past Marble Arch, on the way to her aunts
garden party.
9 Come to London one Sunday, Mother and have duck and onion stuffing
for lunch.
10 Dont throw stones into lonely holes, with no knowing where theyre going.
12 We heard the girl learning absurd words and hurling dirty curses at the
world.
a 13 Crouch down scouts and no loud shouting, theres a cow on the downs.
a 14 At my time of life, I like flying high and smiling wide from deep inside.
15 That black cat thats sat on the mat, having a nap, has flat, flappy ears.
e 16 The careless hare daringly stared at the pair of bears, from under the chair.
19 His weird disappearance from here on the pier, was clearly mysterious.
20 Bridget wickedly kicked her little sister and hit her with her fists.
Penny Dyer.
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rp vowel descriptions
When any NUMBERS are mentioned, its with reference to the 21 Practice Sentences.
There are 20 VOWEL SOUNDS in General Received Pronunciation. The 21 PRACTICE
SENTENCES for shaping the sounds, found on page 10 of this booklet, demonstrate
these 20 vowel qualities, plus the LIQUID U of Sentence No 2. The vowels and
sentences are listed in the form of a RESONATING SCALE in the mouth, starting with
the BACK VOWELS (sentences 17), moving through the CENTRAL VOWELS
(sentences 813) and completing the journey with the FRONT VOWELS (sentences
1421). Every vowel is shaped primarily by the TONGUE and some vowels carry LIP
ROUNDING as well. With RP vowels, for instance, the lip rounding helps the sound of
a BACK Vowel travel forward to the front of the mouth. Remember, when shaping the
RP Vowels, its the body of the tongue that lifts and moves around the mouth cavity,
while the tip of the tongue rests behind the bottom front teeth. When a vowel sound is
referred to as CLOSE, it means the tongue is high in the mouth and when a vowel
sound is referred to as OPEN, it means the tongue is low, in the bottom of the mouth.
When practising these sounds, always keep some SPACE in your jaw, about the width
of the thumb knuckle. This encourages the tongue to have a separate life, so to speak
and freedom of movement from the jaw.
TWELVE of the 21 Vowel sounds are PURE VOWELS. PURE means the tongue holds
ONE shape in the mouth, to form ONE sound, which requires a strong, muscular
discipline. There are FIVE, LONG Pure Vowels (Nos 1, 5, 8, 12, 21.) and SEVEN
SHORT (Nos 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, 20). The long and short refer to the LENGTH of the
Vowel sound and the LONG PURE vowels have TWO DOTS next to each Phonetic
symbol, signposting their length. Try out the sentences on the More Practice
Sentences For the LONG BORED GIRLS NEED LARGE SHOES or SMALL BIRDS
SEE FAST MOVES and for the SHORT THE BLACK PEN IS NOT MUCH GOOD.
EIGHT of the 21 vowel sounds are DIPHTHONGS (Nos 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19). A
DIPHTHONG is a DOUBLE or Compound Vowel and each Diphthong carries TWO
SHAPES to the ONE sound. The tongue actually GLIDES from one PURE Vowel to
another, sometimes with some shaping from the lips, and it is the SHAPE OF THE
GLIDE that forms the sound of the General RP Diphthong, with the tongue moving
through from the first shape to the second. Try the sentence PURE, WHITE
CLOUDS JOIN, PLAY and BLOW CLEAR AIR and imagine yourself gently swinging in
a hammock bliss.
/i/ / / // Lets start with 3 LONG Vowels as in /i/EE, / /ER, //AH.
21 /i/ or EE is a CLOSE, FRONT Vowel, with the body of the tongue
lifted high and forward in the mouth. The lips are gently spread.
12 / / or ER is a CENTRAL Vowel and sits on the middle of the tongue
in the middle of the mouth. Although there is always an R in the
spelling, there is no R in the pronunciation. The LENGTH of the vowel
compensates for the loss of R. There is no curling of the lips or even
the lip corners.
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informed responses. But a true RP speaker will take the time to pick
the words for emphasis, like ripe fruit from the tree, with PITCH and
INFLECTION to clarify the intention of the thought.
The RP DIPHTHONGS are almost all formed by a gliding together of
TWO RP PURE Vowels. The Phonetic symbols give you a good
indication of this.
/a/ /a/ The two diphthongs that use a Regional Vowel are /a/ AYE and /a/
OW as in BITE and ABOUT. Both start from No 4, as in the French
CHAT/PAS (see Regional Vowels page). The tongue starts low and flat
14 in a FRONT, OPEN placement and swings or springs fully up to // for
AYE, with lips spread I, MY, HEIGHT, DISGUISE. For /a/ OW, the
13 Modern RP speaker comes from much the same place, but shapes the
Vowel round and up on the lips to // HOW, CROWN, PLOUGH. Try
them together to find a similar energy. BITE, ABOUT; LIED, LOUD;
RIDE, ROWDY.
/e/ // Lets look at /e/ EY and // OH as in BAIT and BOAT.
18 /e/ EY moves from /e/ to // with little swing. Modern speakers should
move the tongue closer in the mouth than they realize think Scots or
French there is a wee pressure through the middle of the tongue as the
sound completes NAME, WEIGHT, TAIL, LAY.
10 // OH moves from // to // with rounding on the lips. Its the lip shape
thatll get you there, to this quintessential RP Vowel. Imagine you are
shaping your lips round a straw, as you complete the sound or around
your little finger NO, ALONE, THROW, FOAL.
Try them together youll notice they sit on the same tongue tension
level, one behind the other. BAIT, BOAT; GALE, GOAL; TODAY, BELOW.
// 6 // OY as in BOY is not a common sound, and pushes forward and
up on the tongue from // to //. The sound is propelled forward on the
breath with lips gently shaped around the imaginary plum, which melts
away to // PLOY, COIN, MOIST. Try BAY, BUY, BOY feel how the
tongues lifts to the same place each time.
// /e/ // The last three Diphthongs all slide their way into the Neutral Vowel //
UH as in PIER, PAIR, PURE. The three movements are subtle, like tiny
ripples in the middle of the tongue.
19 // EER starts with // and slides or ebbs into the Neutral //. The
lips remain spread. EAR, SHEER, CLEAR, REALLY.
16 /e/ AIR starts from /e/ and ebbs slightly back to the Neutral //. Its
really very subtle. The lips remain spread. FAIR, MAYOR, GLARE, TEAR.
Try them together HERE and THERE; BEER, BEAR; DEAR, DARE
4 // OOR starts from // with a gentle pout of the lips and melts forward
onto the // Neutral vowel. This Vowel is sharply recessive today, being
replaced with // AW, as in POOR, SURE or being split by the w
spelling as in FEWER, SEWER. But its subtlety is still being appreciated
CURE, TOUR, FLUENT even MANURE.
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rp consonant descriptions
/t/ One of the most popular sounds of RP is the T. This Plosive consonant
is made with the tiniest release of air, the tongue tip making brief, but firm,
contact with the front of the upper gum ridge also known as the
ALVEOLAR ridge behind the top front teeth. Sometimes you can locate
a small ridge on the roof of the mouth, running towards the teeth and the
very front of this, is right behind the teeth and acts as a good point of
contact. The firm, but brief, gentle press of the tongue tip in this place,
before release, enables the sound to explode cleanly. Imagine the point of
contact is quite hot to the touch, it stops you from hanging around! The
RP speaker will always choose a TAP dance, over a Soft Shoe Shuffle
But dont let the use of a /t/ lead to stilted speech, our Ts can give way to
other consonants, especially in word-final positions, such as NIGHT
TIME; GOT FOR; HIT THE; LATE BELL; RIGHT CHANGE. At speed, the
tongue tip moves into position, but never releases through. Slow it down,
to perhaps, make a POINT and theres room for the /t/ again. Try with D
the same rules can apply. The RP tongue tip can be a useful emotional
weapon. The modern speaker often favours speed, so medial Ts, between
Vowels, slyly change into Ds try speeding through A LOT OF THINGS;
IVE GOTT O GET A BUS; YOURE GETTING FAST; WHAT ON EARTHS
THE MATTER WITH THAT. Slow down again and the /t/ comes back. Final
Ts really come and go in the modified speech of modern RP speakers, but
keep off those London Glottals! The tip of the tongue will still lift up and
make contact with the top teeth ridge, even though the air may not
explode through to sound the consonant.
/p/ /t/ /k/ All SIX Plosive sounds are made with a small release of air. The /p/ and /b/,
/b/ /d/ // require a firm release between the lips and the /k/ and //, between the
back of the tongue and the soft palate. (Thats the spongy part at the back
of the roof of the mouth and its a muscular membrane try saying SING
A SONG, so you can feel it.) These SIX consonants are the key to RP
fitness, so get practicing!
// // These two sounds are the only DENTAL consonants in RP. The tongue tip
spreads, oh so very close to the back of the top front teeth, so theres
barely room for a small feather, and the air brushes out between the teeth.
With // the vibrating air flow can be ticklish! What you are hearing and
feeling, as you make these sounds, is friction. Once the tongue tip makes
proper contact with the teeth, the friction is lost and the sound changes.
Try alternating the following words and feeling the difference on your
tongue THIN; TIN; THEN; DEN; THROUGH; TRUE; OTHER; UDDER;
WITH, WIV; BATH, BARF; RATHER; RADA !
/h/ This sound is present in RP, most of the time. It is released with GENTLE
aspiration on the out breath, from a narrowed opening between the vocal
folds. Cup your hands in front of your face and feel the warmth of the
barely audible breath /h/ in the middle of your palms. When there are
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several Hs in one phrase or sentence, the unstressed /h/ are often lost. Try
HE PUT HIS HAT ON HIS HEAD. Note how, with speed, the two HIS
become IS.
/hw/ This sound is no longer employed by modern RP speakers. With Marked
wh RP, it needs to be used either sparingly for emphasis OR as a character
choice. It can seem remarkably affected. The sound is made by blowing
an imaginary candle out, over the voicing of the W. This way, the breath of
the /h/ comes first, as it should do.
/l/ [
] There are TWO L sounds in RP. The LIGHT or CLEAR /l/ is heard BEFORE
and BETWEEN Vowels, as in LAKE; SLEEP; SALARY; MILLION. The
tongue tip pushes up and forward on the teeth ridge and the voiced sound
escapes sideways, over the tongue and between the teeth. The DARK [
]
is heard AFTER Vowels, as in ALWAYS; DULL; RULED. Although the
tongue tip is touching the teeth ridge, the body of the tongue pulls down
and back in the mouth, as if cradling or cupping the vowel sound. The
voiced air still escapes sideways, but more secretly.
/r/ RP is a NON-RHOTIC accent. /r/ is pronounced BEFORE and BETWEEN
vowels, but never after. Therefore all the Rs are SILENT in the following
examples NEVER; MURDER; FIRST; HARD; SHORE; PURE; WEIRD;
CARED; DOOR; ARTHUR; ENORMOUS. The consonant is made with the
tongue tip curling up in the mouth, close to the back of the upper teeth
ridge. It is tricky to feel, but make sure you keep a little fingers width
between your teeth, while practicing. Imagine trying to balance a dew-
drop on the very tip of your tongue and then breathing out, warming the
dew-drop, before allowing the tongue tip to fall into the shape of a
following vowel RED; RIGHT; REALLY. It becomes more difficult when
the R is between vowels HURRY; TOMORROW; TERRIBLE and also
as a LINKING R between words EVERAGAIN; FOURAM or
FOUROCLOCK. The reflex of the tongue has to speed up, a bit like
flapping a piece of material quickly. Sometimes a bottom lip curling occurs,
in an attempt to help make the sound. This is fine, as long as it remains in
second place to the tongue movement. If the lip is very active while
practicing, pop a finger on it, to calm it down and help the tongue to shape
better. You may then notice the top lip trying to help the only thing left to
do is SMILE it works! Gradually, with practice, the life of the tongue tip
will separate from the movement of the lips. The shaping of the RP /r/ is
recessive in younger speakers, a movement off the back of the tongue is
preferred, for ease and speed of delivery. It is also common today to hear
the use of an INTRUSIVE R an R that occurs when there isnt one. Try
saying IVE NO IDEA OF THE TIME or HAVE YOU BEEN TO
CALIFORNIA AND INDIA IN THE SAME YEAR? Can you hear how easy it
is to do it? Your tongue needs to lift and quickly float through from vowel
to vowel.
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/tl/ /dl/ These two sounds carry the grand title of LATERAL RELEASE and are
syllabic consonants. Instead of the /t/ and /d/ exploding from the front of
the mouth, they explode LATERALLY (sideways), with the [
]. They are
idiosyncratic to RP, but are recessive, being used less by modern
speakers. They are essential for Marked RP. Keep your tongue tip and
blade (the area behind the tip) firmly stuck to your upper teeth ridge like
glue. Imagine that your bottom side teeth are ramparts and the sides of
your tongue are two cannons. As you fire the cannons, feel the air explode
over the sides of the tongue and out beyond the ramparts. Have you ever
tried to make a Horse trot? Theres a clicking noise you can make to
encourage the horse, only its made on the IN breath. Try releasing the
same sound on an OUT breath ITLL; CHORTLE; CUDDLING; IDLE.
/tn/ /dn/ These two sounds carry the title of NASAL RELEASE and are syllabic
consonants. Instead of the /t/ and /d/ exploding from the front of the
mouth, they explode DOWN THE NOSE, with the [
]. They are
idiosyncratic to RP, but are sharply recessive in modern speakers. They
are essential for Marked RP. Keep your tongue tip and blade (the area
behind the tip) firmly stuck to your upper teeth ridge like glue. Imagine
you are trying to clear something from your nose, youll need to lift the soft
palate to block the airways and then its like a very gentle cough a muted
explosion, only, its in the nose! The /t/ and /d/ will sound very different, in
fact, you can hardly hear them COTTON, SHOULDNT.
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introduction to phonetics
Spoken language is made up of successions of sounds that are shaped on the breath
by the speech organs. Phonetics is the study and classification of these sounds, with
the use of symbols.
The Actor needs to remember that Phonetics is a HEAR SPEAK system.
I have used IPA (The International Phonetic Alphabet) for those of you who appreci-
ate a solid, more technical foundation. The choices are based on my experience; my
extensive collection of recordings of genuine accents and dialects; people-watching
and comparisons with the phonetic experts, such as Daniel Jones, A.C.Gimson,
J.C.Wells, Arthur Hughes and Peter Trudgill.
The springboard into each accent is Received Pronunciation (RP) Standard
English Speech. The phonetic symbols for the Vowels and Consonants of RP and each
of the REGIONAL accents explored, are found alongside the appropriate sentences.
Also, each booklet contains short descriptions of how the shape of each sound
changes in the mouth from RP to the regional accent. With the Vowels, this always
involves a movement of the tongue and sometimes a secondary movement of the lips.
With the Consonants, Ive only described the main features of each accent. The
Phonetic notation has been kept simple and therefore broad in its transcription.
Incidentally, this is not a course in phonetics, as I certainly dont want to boggle you
with technique! There are plenty of books on phonetics and speech, should you wish
to explore further and understand more.
Some actors prefer to invent their own phonetics, so feel free to doodle!
A VOWEL is made by an uninterrupted passage of vibrating air, through the mouth.
The Vowel is shaped primarily by the movement of the tongue. Some Vowels have
secondary shaping with the lips. ALL Vowels are open and voiced.
A CONSONANT is made by an interrupted passage of air, through the mouth. The
air is either completely or partially blocked by one or more of the Organs of Speech.
Some Consonants are voiced (vibrating) and some are voiceless or unvoiced.
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The RP Vowels
NB: Keep your tongue tip relaxed and lightly touching the gum, behind your bottom,
front teeth, when practising these sounds.
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reference books
English Accents and Dialects, Arthur Hughes, Peter Trudgill and Dominic Watts
(Hodder Arnold)
About Britain (Series of Guide Books), For The Festival of Britain Office (Collins 1951)
The Oxford Companion to the English Language, edited by Tom McArthur (OUP)
The Angry Island Hunting the English, A A Gill (Weidenfeld and Nicholson)
The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language, edited by David Crystal (CUP)
The Story of English, Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil (Faber and
Faber/BBC Publications)
English The Origins, History and Development of the Language, Katherine Watson (St
James Publishing)
The Muvver Tongue, Robert Barltrop and Jim Wolveridge (Journeyman Press)
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The following actors and directors have endorsed the Access Accents CDs:
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