U-RP

[PVER•PVERVM•AMAT]

I want help distinguishing U-RP and mainstream RP. U-RP lacks happY-tensing, typically has a back vowel starting point for the GOAT diphthong (and MOUTH, according to some transcriptions, though my ears hear it as a central vowel not dissimilar to the traditional PRICE starting point, and it may also have a close central unrounded vowel for the ending point), a more closed TRAP, a tenser DRESS (and thereby a tenser starting point for FACE), a backer realization of PALM, BATH, and START, more open LOT, THOUGHT, FORCE, and NORTH, merges CLOTH with THOUGHT, FORCE, and NORTH, and flaps /r/ intervocalically and following dental fricatives, and for some speakers, voiced non-alveolar stops, correct? Have I missed anything that distinguishes U-RP from mainstream RP, and what level of straying from what I've listed would remain acceptably U-RP (for example, would a central starting point for GOAT, or lack of the LOT-CLOTH split, render an RP 'near-U-RP'?)

[Salmoneus]

What do you mean by 'U-RP'? It's not a term I've heard.

[PVER•PVERVM•AMAT]

The accents of the upper classes, as opposed to the standard represented by Received Pronunciation, 'Upper-Received Pronunciation'. Although, I have forgotten: while U-RP can be as conservative as I've described (though I seem to have forgotten that U-RP does not traditionally drop the yod of words where it follows an L [e.g. 'luminous', 'lewd'] unless it forms a cluster [e.g. 'flute', 'slew']), it can also be marked by innovation: GOAT can have a starting point comparable to DRESS, for example, and intervocalic /r/ can be reduced to zero. While the innovative fronted and conservative back GOAT starting point are both definitely U-RP, I was wondering if a centralized starting point could be considered U-RP, or if the LOT vowels in THOUGHT's stead in CLOTH words could be consider U-RP, and if not, would these features in an otherwise U-RP accent render it 'near-U-RP' (akin to 'near-RP' for an accent that is almost RP, but with some deviations such as an incomplete TRAP-BATH split).

[KathTheDragon]

I have never ever head anyone have a yod in 'luminous' or similar words.

[clawgrip]

Do you mean like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNBcGsoirpQ

[Salmoneus]

Aren't you just talking about RP, contrasted to SSBE?

[PVER•PVERVM•AMAT]

I'm fairly certain a tense happY vowel is permissible in RP, as is a lax DRESS vowel, and yod-dropping after /l/. Furthermore, the LOT-CLOTH split would hardly go unremarked upon in ordinary RP. Perhaps a very open TRAP oughtn't to be considered RP, and having TRAP (or close) as the starting point for MOUTH might not be RP. (I do want confirmation on whether MOUTH's traditional starting point is a central vowel identical or close to PRICE's starting point, or a back vowel identical or close to BATH, PALM, and START.) An alveolar flap for intervocalic /r/ is uncommon nowadays (though when I, a young speaker, affect RP, I like to flap it all the time). Furthermore, a centralized starting point for GOAT is the most typical RP pronunciation, and a back starting point for GOAT is rarer except in U-RP. I also concede that having less open LOT=CLOTH and NORTH=THOUGHT=FORCE is probably more SSBE than RP.