Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. These groups may be geographical, socio-economic (social class), ethnic, or second language speakers.
Accent should not be confused with dialect which is a variety of language differing in vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation. Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or class.
In the UK, Received Pronunciation is established as the most prestigious accent, although only approximately 3% of people actually speak it. It possesses ...
