WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Do People Talk Weird in Old Movies?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog Obam here with another classic episode from our

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<v Speaker 1>archive and from our former host, Christian Sager. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>ever watched old movies, say from the nineties or earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>or listen to old radio plays, you may have noticed

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<v Speaker 1>that the accents American actors used were different than what

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<v Speaker 1>we hear today. There's a reason for that, and this

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<v Speaker 1>episode explains it. Hey brain Stuff, it's Christian Sager here.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have ever heard old movies or newsreels from

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<v Speaker 1>the thirties or forties, then you've probably heard that weird

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<v Speaker 1>old timey voice. You know, it sounds something like this.

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<v Speaker 1>Now see here, Mr Weather's being there's no money in

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<v Speaker 1>dog racing. The future is radio. You hear me radio?

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<v Speaker 1>It sounds a little like a blend between American English

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<v Speaker 1>and a form of British English. So what is this cadence? Exactly?

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<v Speaker 1>This type of pronunciation is actually called the Transatlantic or

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<v Speaker 1>mid Atlantic accent, and it isn't like most other accents.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of naturally evolving, the trans Atlantic accent was acquired.

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<v Speaker 1>This means that people in the United States were taught

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<v Speaker 1>to speak in this voice Historically, Transatlantic speech was the

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<v Speaker 1>hallmark of aristocratic America and theater. In upper class boarding

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<v Speaker 1>schools across New England, students learned the Transatlantic accent as

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<v Speaker 1>an international norm for communication, similar to the way posh

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<v Speaker 1>British society used received pronunciation. Essentially, that's the way the

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<v Speaker 1>queen and aristocrats are taught to speak. It has several

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<v Speaker 1>quasi British elements, such as a lack of roticity. This

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<v Speaker 1>means that mid Atlantic speakers drop their rs at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of words like winna or clea. They'll also use

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<v Speaker 1>softer British vowels daunce instead of dance, for instance. Another

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<v Speaker 1>thing that stands out is the emphasis on clipped sharp teas.

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<v Speaker 1>In American English, we often pronounced the tea in words

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<v Speaker 1>like writer or water as d's. Transatlantic speakers will hit

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<v Speaker 1>that t like it stole something writer water. But again,

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<v Speaker 1>this speech pattern isn't completely British, nor is it really

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<v Speaker 1>completely American. Instead, it's a form of English that's hard

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<v Speaker 1>to place, and that's part of why Hollywood loved it.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also a theory that technological constraints helped mid Atlantic's popularity.

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<v Speaker 1>According to professor J. Oberski. This nasally clipped pronunciation is

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<v Speaker 1>a vestiage from the early days of radio Receivers had

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<v Speaker 1>very little based technology at the time, and it was

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<v Speaker 1>very difficult, if not impossible, to hear based tones on

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<v Speaker 1>your home device. Now we live in an age where

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<v Speaker 1>based technology booms from the trunks of cars all across America.

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<v Speaker 1>So what happened to the Transatlantic accent. Well, it's no

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<v Speaker 1>longer the common tongue of elite boarding schools. Linguist William

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<v Speaker 1>Labov notes that mid Lantic speech fell out of favor

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<v Speaker 1>after World War Two, as fewer teachers continued teaching the

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<v Speaker 1>pronunciation to their students. That's one of the reasons this

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<v Speaker 1>speech sounds so old timey to us today. When people

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<v Speaker 1>learn it, they're usually learning it for acting purposes rather

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<v Speaker 1>than for everyday use. However, we can still hear the

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<v Speaker 1>effects of mid Atlantic speech in recordings of everyone from

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<v Speaker 1>Katherine Hepburn to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and of course countless films, newsreels,

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<v Speaker 1>and radio shows from the thirties and forties. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Ben Bolan and produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics visit

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of by

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