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Found another exceedingly rare example of still existing Caribbean Received Pronunciation! Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ new Governor-General, Sir Stanley John, speaks in an (admittedly rather toned down) Caribbean RP accent

595,786 views • 2 months ago •via X (Twitter)

31 Comments

Banished Shippo's profile picture
Banished Shippo2 months ago

Beautiful accent and voice

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

Sir Stanley definitely has a voice with immense gravitas

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Ads2 months ago

Remarkable that even my 90 year old grandma born in Jamaica doesn’t sound like this. Reminds me of Tafawa Balewa in Nigeria, who to this day is the only example of African RP I’ve ever heard (Mugabe sort of imitated one in his early career though)

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

It was definitely an accent of the educated upper classes (much like RP is/was in Britain), rather than what everyday West Indians sounded like. My 81 year old grandfather, who grew up solidly middle class, hasn’t got a shred of RP, for instance

Ads's profile picture
Ads2 months ago

Figures; I’m one of the few in my family to have a very plummy accent despite all of us growing up well-off to some degree (happenstance of school and my mother not wanting me to sound Brummie lmao). It feels almost like the transatlantic accent nowadays

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

Indeed accents can be very weird like that! I have a cousin in Barbados who has a non-definable mystery American-esque accent, on account of my aunt working HARD prevent her from develop a Bajan accent, which she thinks is ugly as sin

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omni2 months ago

Reminds me of Neil Nunes on BBC Radio 4

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

Yep! He speaks something quite similar to Caribbean RP. Not surprising since Neil Nunes is from Jamaica. Broadcasting (both among Caribbean diaspora in the UK, and to a degree locally) remains one of the very few places you’ll still occasionally hear Caribbean RP

Huw Davies's profile picture
Huw Davies2 months ago

Get this man and audiobook contrast, a beautiful voice!

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Legal Style Blog2 months ago

It's remarkable given the malign neglect Britain has shown, but there are still some areas where the Caribbean is more English than the English and I love it

Humidity Enjoyer's profile picture
Humidity Enjoyer2 months ago

Pretty sure I heard some accents like this in Nevis. A lot of locals thankfully switch from "dialect" into something like this when talking to we non-Nevisians.

CanLen 🕙🇮🇷's profile picture
CanLen 🕙🇮🇷2 months ago

@mattbramanti He sounds so majestic

Rowena Pagdin 💙's profile picture
Rowena Pagdin 💙2 months ago

It is a rather lovely voice

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Sturgav's Tweeter2 months ago

Nice!! Check out JA's Florizel Glasspole & Eddie "One Don" Seaga

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

I included a short clip of Glasspole (in fact I believe from this very video) in the original Caribbean RP video in the quote tweet, as a matter of fact!

Sturgav's Tweeter's profile picture
Sturgav's Tweeter2 months ago

Just seen it now, also Norman Manley!

Theodore Beers's profile picture
Theodore Beers2 months ago

The actor Charles Hyatt’s way of speaking was a bit like this. Of course, he died two decades ago,

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Tom Willis2 months ago

Interesting. I think you can hear notes of this in Sir Trevor McDonald's speech.

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

Absolutely

buctootim's profile picture
buctootim2 months ago

I always loved Trevor McDonald as a news presenter on the BBC

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Mrs Henderson2 months ago

This man would make for an excellent bedtime story narrator

C. Hunter's profile picture
C. Hunter2 months ago

He has the voice fit for being a Viceroy.

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Ricardo LiArno2 months ago

Could just be me but it sounds extremely like certain Welsh accents

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TAFKA2 months ago

Omg!! A lot of our Bahamian politicians still speak like this today id it helps! Which makes sense!

Kashen🇹🇹🇮🇳 装甲悪鬼村正's profile picture
Kashen🇹🇹🇮🇳 装甲悪鬼村正2 months ago

He'd make alot of money narrating audiobooks

Courgette Cutie's profile picture
Courgette Cutie2 months ago

Need to talk to my Mom about this. Thank you!

Oluwabukunmi 🍁's profile picture
Oluwabukunmi 🍁2 months ago

Same way Prof. Wole Soyinka speaks

A Arbor.'s profile picture
A Arbor.2 months ago

Nathaniel warned about this:

Richard 🐉🇫🇮's profile picture
Richard 🐉🇫🇮2 months ago

Lady C speaks very similarly

enche thamby's profile picture
enche thamby2 months ago

I hope they are teaching this in schools because it sounds regal

The Grenada Loyalist's profile picture
The Grenada Loyalist2 months ago

Sadly no, the Caribbean RP accent is pretty much extinct. You’ll only very rarely hear it among older highly educated people (such as Sir Stanley here), among a subset of Caribbean diaspora in the UK, and sometimes in television broadcasting

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