Received Pronunciation (RP)

Accents of English 1: An Introduction by J. C. Wells (1982)

RP
The meaning of “received” is “generally accepted”. RP is the accent which has the highest prestige in England. It is also the most general type of educated British pronunciation. It is characteristic of the upper and upper middle class socially. From the perspective of occupations, barrister, stockbroker and diplomat tend to speak RP. Less than 10% people in England could be RP speakers. There are 19 vowels in the RP system. On the other hand, General American has 15 vowels.