This variety, which is perceived as official, is used in writing, the education system (grammar books and dictionaries), the court, the church, in newspapers, the media and for official purposes. It sets a certain set of rules for the English language in terms of grammar, syntax and lexis.
Standard English can be spoken in a vast range of regional accents or without any regional pronunciation.
Received pronunciation
In the latter, the regionally neutral accent is referred to as Received Pronunciation (hereafter RP). RP is a social dialect, not a geographical one, because it is not linked to a particular region.
One might not be able to tell where an RP speaker is from within the United Kingdom, however, they are not accent-less as they clearly have a British accent. Hence, statements such as ’He speaks correct English, without a trace of dialect’ fail to realise that Standard English and RP are dialects as any other variety, and that everyone speaks with an accent. This also implies that, although all RP speakers speak Standard English, Standard English can be spoken with an accent.
On this note it needs to be mentioned that there is a clear distinction between an accent and a dialect. An accent of a speaker refers only to the pronunciation of utterances, whereas a dialect describes the lexical use, grammar and pronunciation.
Answers & Comments
Explanation:
This variety, which is perceived as official, is used in writing, the education system (grammar books and dictionaries), the court, the church, in newspapers, the media and for official purposes. It sets a certain set of rules for the English language in terms of grammar, syntax and lexis.
Standard English can be spoken in a vast range of regional accents or without any regional pronunciation.
Received pronunciation
In the latter, the regionally neutral accent is referred to as Received Pronunciation (hereafter RP). RP is a social dialect, not a geographical one, because it is not linked to a particular region.
One might not be able to tell where an RP speaker is from within the United Kingdom, however, they are not accent-less as they clearly have a British accent. Hence, statements such as ’He speaks correct English, without a trace of dialect’ fail to realise that Standard English and RP are dialects as any other variety, and that everyone speaks with an accent. This also implies that, although all RP speakers speak Standard English, Standard English can be spoken with an accent.
On this note it needs to be mentioned that there is a clear distinction between an accent and a dialect. An accent of a speaker refers only to the pronunciation of utterances, whereas a dialect describes the lexical use, grammar and pronunciation.