I do remember your other thread. You ask very interesting and insighful questions.

I'm also fascinated by what you call 'the accent thing'. In Britain, the issue of accent is inextricably bound up with the culture of the country, especially its history and class system. And yes, I do speak with an RP pronunciation,  or with what might be called a 'relaxed' RP accent. I use the same phonology as Tilda Swinton, though I don't sound nearly as elegant and refined as she does!

RP is still considered standard and well-educated, but it is by no means 'required' in any sphere of public life - apart from maybe if you want to marry into the royal family! There was a time when BBC newsreaders had to have a standard, and very refined pronunciation, but this has not been the case for many years.  BBC newsreaders and presenters now have a wide range of regional accents - always 'educated', but by no means RP.  It is also worth mentioning that there are 'educated' British accents other than RP. Research suggests that a teacher, doctor or lawyer speaking in a refined Scottish accent, with a touch of Edinburgh pronunciation, may even inspire more confidence in his or her listeners than southern English RP.

As for schools, a private fee-paying school in the UK is unlikely to employ a teacher with a very strong working class accent, but there is no actual requirement to have an RP accent. In less class-conscious schools, teachers can have any accent at all. Teachers are engaged on the basis of their qualifications and ability, rather than their diction.

hello su.ki., it's always a great pleasure for me to read your reply. thanks a million for your kind and professional tips on the pronunciation! it's all clear to me now!

Suit is almost always pronounced /su:t/. The British /sju:t/ variant exists, but it is very rare nowadays.  Maybe the Queen still says 'suit' in that way, but not many other people do...

There is no /j/ sound in revolution, evolution, solution, or any other words with this morphology. These are single long vowels /u:/.  'Dual' and 'fuel', by contrast,  have two sounds /dju:əl/  /fju:əl/, as  reflected in the spelling. In 'posher' pronunciations, 'dual' almost sounds like the diphthong in 'pure', while some regional accents may introduce a /w/ sound as in 'jewel'. (eg /fju:wəl/)

When there is a following 'n' sound, the letter 'u' is often pronounced /ju: /. 'Tune' and 'dune' are rare one-syllable words in which 'u' is pronounced /ju:/, at least in British English ( US.E : /tu:n/ and /du:n/) .

Multisyllabic words with the '* un ' combination also follow this rule, for example, 'funeral', 'municipal', 'ammunition'.

Words which have 'une' as a final syllable also have the /ju:/ sound, for example, 'fortune', as do words with the prefix 'uni' meaning 'one' : universe, union, uniform and so on.

There is a certain inconsistency, though, even within sets of related words. For example, the vowel in the first syllable of 'punish' is /ʌ/, while the vowel in the first syllable of the adjective 'punitive' is /ju:/.

 In fact, the only word I can think of where there is a degree of choice is the fish 'tuna'. In Britain some people say /tju:nə/ (perhaps by analogy with 'tune'?)  while others favour the American form /tu:nə/.

Hi Su.Ki., I hope that all is well at your end! Please can I bother you again with some questions on pronunciation.  

I was watching a video just now, in which a Canadian teacher gives tips on the pronuncations of some vowels. She gives a pair example of /u/ and /u:/ with the words SOOT and SUIT, with SUIT pronounced /su:t/.

My question is: is suit pronounced /su:t/ or /sju:t/?

Actually, I've always wanted to figure out the different sounds that the letter u makes.

As far as I know, it can be /u/ in put, /ʌ/ in cut, and /u:/ in rule. When it comes to words such as revolution, evolution, dual, sexual & individual etc, how is the u pronounced in present-day RP? The Oxford dictionary gives /revəlu:ʃən/, /evəlu:ʃən/, /duəl/, /sekʃuəl/, /individʒuəl/ with the u in /u/.  However, I've also heard the u pronounced as /ju:/ by a number of native speakers, esp British speakers. Therefore, revolution, evolution, dual, sexual & individual are /revəlju:ʃən/,  /evəlju:ʃən/, /dju:əl/, /sekʃjuəl/ (or/seksjuəl/) , /individʒjuəl/.

My quesiton is: is /j/-dropping in the above case more popular nowadays in RP or in the UK? Is /ju:/ actually more favoured by Brits than by other native English-speakers? 

Many thanks in advance and looking forward to your reply. Cheers!

Regards!

hello su.kil, thanks a million for your great help and patience! it's now all cystal clear to me. i will keel all this in mind when speaking english!