WEBVTT - Why Do People Talk Weird in Old Movies?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is Christian Sager here. If you have ever heard

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<v Speaker 1>old movies or newsreels from the thirties or forties, then

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<v Speaker 1>you've probably heard that weird old timey voice. You know

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<v Speaker 1>it sounds something like this. Now see here Mr Weather's

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<v Speaker 1>being there's no money in dog racing. The future is radio.

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<v Speaker 1>You hear me radio. It sounds a little like a

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<v Speaker 1>blend between American English and a form of British English.

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<v Speaker 1>So what is this cadence? Exactly? This type of pronunciation

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<v Speaker 1>is actually called the Transatlantic or mid Atlantic accent, and

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<v Speaker 1>it isn't like most other accents. Instead of naturally evolving,

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<v Speaker 1>the trans Atlantic accent was acquired. This means that people

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States were taught to speak in this voice. Historically,

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<v Speaker 1>Transatlantic speech was the hallmark of aristocratic America and theater.

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<v Speaker 1>In upper class boarding schools across New England, students learned

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<v Speaker 1>the Transatlantic accent as an international norm for communication, similar

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<v Speaker 1>to the way posh British society used received pronunciation. Essentially,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the way the queen and aristocrats are taught to speak.

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<v Speaker 1>It has several quasi British elements such as a lack

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<v Speaker 1>of roticity. This means that mid Atlantic speakers drop their

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<v Speaker 1>rs at the end of words like winna or clear.

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<v Speaker 1>They'll also use softer British vowels daunce instead of dance,

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<v Speaker 1>for instance. Another thing that stands out is the emphasis

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<v Speaker 1>on clipped sharp teas. In American English, we often pronounced

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<v Speaker 1>the tea in words like writer or water as d's.

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<v Speaker 1>Transatlantic speakers will hit that tea like it stole something

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<v Speaker 1>writer water. But again, this speech pattern isn't completely British,

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<v Speaker 1>nor is it really completely American. Instead, it's a form

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<v Speaker 1>of English that's hard to place, and that's part of

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<v Speaker 1>why Hollywood loved it. There's also a theory that techno

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<v Speaker 1>logical constraints helped mid Atlantic's popularity. According to Professor j Oberski,

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<v Speaker 1>this nasally clipped pronunciation is a vested from the early

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<v Speaker 1>days of radio Receivers had very little based technology at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, and it was very difficult, if not impossible,

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<v Speaker 1>to hear based tones on your home device. Now we

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<v Speaker 1>live in an age where based technology booms from the

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<v Speaker 1>trunks of cars all across America. So what happened to

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<v Speaker 1>the Transatlantic accent well, it's no longer the common tongue

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<v Speaker 1>of elite boarding schools. Linguist William Labov notes that mid

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<v Speaker 1>Atlantic speech fell out of favor after World War Two,

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<v Speaker 1>as fewer teachers continued teaching the pronunciation to their students.

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<v Speaker 1>That's one of the reasons this speech sounds so old

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<v Speaker 1>timey to us today. When people learn it, they're usually

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<v Speaker 1>learning it for acting purposes rather than for everyday use. However,

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<v Speaker 1>we can still hear the effects of mid Atlantic speech

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<v Speaker 1>in recordings of everyone from Katherine Hepburn to Franklin D. Roosevelt,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course countless films, newsreels, and radio shows from

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<v Speaker 1>the thirties and forties. Check out the Brainstuff channel on YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com.