The Rise of RP Historical reasons Received Pronunciation (RP) was originally associated with a (1) spoken in the region between central England and London, including Oxford and Cambridge. Its survival was due to its use by the (2) in the 14th century and by university students in the (3) . Its rise in importance resulted from its application in government and official documents. The prestige of its (4) pattern of pronunciation came about with its use in (5) in the 19th century. As a result, its (6) is accepted by Television and the radio, the professions and teaching English as a foreign language. Three characteristics of RP 1) its speakers don’t regard themselves as connected with any geographical region; 2) RP is largely used in England; 3) RP is a "class" accent, associated with (7) social classes. Its present status Decline in the prestige of RP is the result of a) loss of monopoly of education by the privileged; b) (8) of higher education in the post-war period. However, it still retains its eminence among certain professional people. There is a rise in the status of all (9) We are moving towards the (10) position: general acceptance of all regional accents and absence of a class accent that transcends all regions.