Why People In Old Movies and Radio Shows Talk so Weird Warum Menschen in alten Filmen und Radiosendungen so seltsam reden Γιατί οι άνθρωποι σε παλιές ταινίες και ραδιοφωνικές εκπομπές μιλούν τόσο παράξενα Por qué la gente de las películas antiguas y los programas de radio habla tan raro Pourquoi les personnages des vieux films et émissions de radio parlent de façon si étrange Perché le persone nei vecchi film e nei programmi radiofonici parlano in modo così strano なぜ古い映画やラジオ番組に出てくる人々は奇妙な話をするのか？ Kodėl žmonės senuose filmuose ir radijo laidose kalba taip keistai Dlaczego ludzie w starych filmach i programach radiowych mówią tak dziwnie? Porque é que as pessoas nos filmes e programas de rádio antigos falam de forma tão estranha Почему люди в старых фильмах и радиопередачах говорят так странно Eski Filmlerdeki ve Radyo Programlarındaki İnsanlar Neden Bu Kadar Tuhaf Konuşuyor? Чому люди в старих фільмах і радіошоу так дивно розмовляють 为什么老电影和广播节目中的人说话这么奇怪 为什么老电影和广播节目中的人说话如此怪异？

Ah, there's nothing like watching an old movie. Eski bir filmi izlemek gibisi yoktur.

The acting was top-notch, there were many films in genres that aren't as popular anymore La interpretación era de primera categoría, había muchas películas de géneros que ya no son tan populares... Oyunculuk birinci sınıftı, artık popüler olmayan türlerde birçok film vardı.

like classic westerns and musicals, and the black-and-white style somehow adds to the como los westerns clásicos y los musicales, y el estilo en blanco y negro de alguna manera se suma a la

experience.

It's the perfect way to spend a lazy evening at home.

There's just one thing that keeps bugging you. Sólo hay una cosa que no deja de molestarte.

Why does everyone in these old movies talk so weird?

No matter how many old movies you watch, in all sorts of genres, you notice the same thing.

You can't put your finger on it, but there's a very distinct style of speaking that you No se puede decir con exactitud, pero hay un estilo muy distinto de hablar que Вы не можете определить, что это, но есть очень четкий стиль речи, который вы

don't notice anywhere else - and you certainly don't see it in today's movies or TV,

or in everyday life.

The only other time you can remember hearing it is when you were over at your grandfather's La única otra vez que recuerdas haberla oído es cuando estabas en casa de tu abuelo. Единственный раз, когда вы слышали его, это когда были у дедушки.

house as a child.

He liked to listen to the radio - no need for that newfangled television box - and the Le gustaba escuchar la radio -no necesitaba ese aparato de televisión tan novedoso- y la

old radio drama repeats he listened to sometimes had that same odd accent. las viejas repeticiones de radionovelas que escuchaba a veces tenían ese mismo acento raro. Dinlediği eski radyo dizilerinin tekrarlarında bazen aynı tuhaf aksan vardı.

It went away at some point, but what was it? En algún momento desapareció, pero ¿qué fue?

And where did it go?

You can't put your finger on it, but you do notice certain repeated patterns when the Parmağınızı üzerine koyamazsınız, ancak bazı tekrarlanan kalıplar

actors in these old films speak.

They seem to drop the Rs in their words, so words like “winner” come out as “winna”.

On the other hand, the Ts in words seem to be strongly emphasized.

The vowels seem to be a bit softer than when you usually hear people speak, so common words

come out just a little bit different.

It reminds you of a British accent in places - but it's not, because you've watched En algunas partes recuerda el acento británico, pero no lo es, porque ha visto

plenty of British films and those sound different.

How widespread was this accent in the era, and where did it start?

The answer can be found in the Golden Age of Hollywood, where movies went from being La respuesta se encuentra en la Edad de Oro de Hollywood, donde las películas pasaron de ser Cevap Hollywood'un Altın Çağı'nda bulunabilir.

a small experimental industry to one of the most powerful forces in entertainment. küçük bir deneysel endüstriden eğlence dünyasının en güçlü güçlerinden birine dönüştü.

From the 1890s to the 1920s, film was largely the province of those interested in visuals. De 1890 a 1920, el cine fue en gran medida el terreno de los interesados en lo visual. 1890'lardan 1920'lere kadar film, büyük ölçüde görsellerle ilgilenenlerin ilgi alanıydı.

The earliest films mostly centered around one stunning visual, like a rocket to the İlk filmler çoğunlukla tek bir çarpıcı görselin etrafında toplanıyordu, tıpkı bir roket gibi.

moon or a train racing right at the screen. luna o un tren a toda velocidad en la pantalla. Ay ya da ekrana doğru koşan bir tren.

They got longer and added complex stories, but they were still silent films where you Se hicieron más largas y añadieron historias complejas, pero seguían siendo películas mudas en las que se

read the dialogue on the screen as a separate soundtrack played.

Then came the talkies, and everything changed. Toen kwamen de talkies, en alles veranderde. Sonra konuşmalar geldi ve her şey değişti.

As classic films moved into the era of spoken dialogue, some of the most famous films of

all time were made.

The Wizard of Oz.

Casablanca.

Citizen Kane.

It's a Wonderful Life.

Just saying their names brings to mind some of the most distinct dialogue from them. Sadece isimlerini söylemek bile onların en belirgin diyaloglarından bazılarını akla getiriyor.

It's impossible to imagine these films without hearing “There's No Place Like Home” Es imposible imaginar estas películas sin escuchar "There's No Place Like Home".

or “Rosebud…” in your head. o "Rosebud..." en tu cabeza. или "Rosebud..." в вашей голове.

And with these iconic films came that distinctive accent, spoken by some of the most famous

names in Hollywood.

But actors as different and Orson Welles and Judy Garland certainly didn't have the same Ancak Orson Welles ve Judy Garland kadar farklı aktörler kesinlikle aynı

background.

So how did they pick up the same accent? Peki aynı aksanı nasıl kapmışlar?

Most accents come from a distinct location, either a different country or a specific location La mayoría de los acentos proceden de un lugar distinto, ya sea un país diferente o un lugar específico

within one.

Those who live down south know that a Texas southern accent and a Louisiana southern accent Los que viven en el sur saben que el acento del sur de Texas y el acento del sur de Luisiana Güneyde yaşayanlar bilirler ki Teksas güney aksanı ve Louisiana güney aksanı

aren't the same things!

But this accent doesn't seem tied to any specific location, and it's spoken by actors

from all around the country and the world in this old film.

That's because it's an accent designed to bridge the gap between the two cultures Porque se trata de un acento que tiende puentes entre las dos culturas.

that influenced the Golden Age of Hollywood the most. Hollywood'un Altın Çağı'nı en çok etkileyen kişi.

Meet the Mid-Atlantic Accent.

Wait, how does that make any sense? Bekle, bu nasıl mantıklı olabilir?

No one lives in the middle of the Atlantic ocean unless we're talking about the unique

accent spoken by whales.

That's because this isn't a traditional accent reflecting a shared heritage. Y es que no se trata de un acento tradicional que refleje una herencia compartida. Bunun nedeni, bunun paylaşılan bir mirası yansıtan geleneksel bir aksan olmamasıdır.

Rather, it's an accent designed to bridge the gap between an American accent and a British Daha ziyade, Amerikan aksanı ile İngiliz aksanı arasındaki boşluğu doldurmak için tasarlanmış bir aksan.

one.

This might be the only accent in history that no one spoke unless they were taught to do Bu, tarihte öğretilmediği sürece kimsenin konuşmadığı tek aksan olabilir

so.

It became popular in the first half of the twentieth century, as preparatory schools Yirminci yüzyılın ilk yarısında, hazırlık okulları olarak popüler hale geldi

around the country taught their studies to speak in a specific style to appear cultured. ülkenin dört bir yanında kültürlü görünmek için belirli bir tarzda konuşmayı öğretti.

The students were given formal public speaking training that included a song-like intonation Los alumnos recibieron una formación formal para hablar en público que incluía una entonación similar a la de una canción Öğrencilere şarkı benzeri bir tonlama içeren resmi topluluk önünde konuşma eğitimi verildi.

and longer vowels, which combined to a greater resonance. y vocales más largas, que se combinaban para una mayor resonancia. ve daha büyük bir rezonans için birleşen daha uzun ünlüler.

This meant that sometimes words lost the sound of some consonants, especially R. That didn't Bu, bazen kelimelerin bazı sessiz harflerinin, özellikle de R'nin sesini kaybettiği anlamına geliyordu.

seem to stop the accent from becoming more and more popular among the elites. parecen impedir que el acento se haga cada vez más popular entre las élites. aksanın elitler arasında giderek daha popüler hale gelmesini engellemiş gibi görünüyor.

So when did this accent start making its way into the world of acting? ¿Cuándo empezó este acento a abrirse camino en el mundo de la interpretación? Peki bu aksan oyunculuk dünyasına ne zaman girmeye başladı?

By the mid-1920s, the Mid-Atlantic accent was a staple of the wealthy and educated, A mediados de la década de 1920, el acento del Atlántico Medio era habitual entre la gente rica y culta, 1920'lerin ortalarında, Orta Atlantik aksanı, zengin ve eğitimli insanların temel unsuruydu.

particularly in the Northeastern United States.

President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife were the only first

couple to speak in this fashion, but First Lady Jackie Kennedy would bring it back into pareja hablar de esta manera, pero la Primera Dama Jackie Kennedy lo traería de nuevo a ama First Lady Jackie Kennedy bunu tekrar gündeme getirecekti.

fashion in the 1960s.

Prominent authors and journalists were associated with it, with the majority being educated

at private schools in New England. New England'daki özel okullarda.

The boarding school Groton was considered the epicenter of this trend, and as a generation El internado Groton fue considerado el epicentro de esta tendencia, y como generación

of actors came out of elite schools, they brought it to Hollywood. de actores salieron de escuelas de élite, lo llevaron a Hollywood.

And with them, came a sea change in the way actors spoke. Y con ellos, se produjo un cambio radical en la forma de hablar de los actores. Ve onlarla birlikte, oyuncuların konuşma biçiminde büyük bir değişiklik oldu.

Traditionally, actors in the United States trained in imitating upper-class British accents.

That's because they were primarily training for stage plays, with the most popular including Esto se debe a que se entrenaban principalmente para obras de teatro, entre las más populares se encontraban

the classic dramas of William Shakespeare and the mysteries of Agatha Christie.

These perennials were set firmly in the world of London's upper-class or the royal courts Estas obras perennes se ambientaban en el mundo de la clase alta londinense o en las cortes reales Bu uzun ömürlüler, Londra'nın üst sınıf dünyasında veya kraliyet mahkemelerinde sağlam bir şekilde kuruldu.

of bygone eras. de épocas pasadas. geçmiş çağlardan.

Then came the silent films, and that allowed actors with very different voices to find Sonra sessiz filmler geldi ve bu, çok farklı seslere sahip oyuncuların

a place in the pictures. resimlerde bir yer.

No one cared what Charlie Chaplin's voice sounded like when he was defined by his inventive Kimse Charlie Chaplin'in yaratıcılığıyla tanımlandığında sesinin nasıl çıktığını umursamıyordu.

pantomime routines. rutinas de pantomima.

Then came a woman named Edith Warman Skinner.

A famous vocal coach, she was a student of linguist William Tilly and the author of a Ünlü bir vokal koçu, dilbilimci William Tilly'nin öğrencisi ve bir

famous book called “Speak with Distinction”.

She had studied the Mid-Atlantic accent herself, and called it “Good American Speech”.

Her book became required reading in many theatrical training programs and soon aspiring actors

were adopting this distinctive pronunciation.

She believed it was the appropriate way to speak in what she described as “classic

and elevated texts”.

Goodbye British accent!

She went on to teach at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and later at Juilliard, where

countless of the world's most famous actors graduated - all sounding the same.

But did the technology of early films and radio have anything to do with how odd these

actors sound?

It's a chicken-and-the-egg question, but the earliest days of radio and “talkies”

had a problem with fully replicating the full range of human speech. tenía problemas para reproducir toda la gama del habla humana. had een probleem met het volledig repliceren van het volledige bereik van menselijke spraak. tüm insan konuşmasını tamamen kopyalamakla ilgili bir sorun yaşadı.

The human bass tones couldn't be conveyed fully, which led to voices sounding more nasally Los tonos graves humanos no podían transmitirse plenamente, lo que hacía que las voces sonaran más nasales.

and clipped. y recortado. ve kırpılmış.

These are traits already found in the Mid-Atlantic accent, so when you watch an old film or listen

to a recorded program on the radio from the era, these traits might be magnified by the dönemin radyoda kaydedilmiş bir programa göre, bu özellikler

sound quality.

So how did this northeastern speaking style make its way all across the country to Hollywood?

That's because the American movie industry didn't start out in Hollywood.

California was still up-and-coming in the early 1900s, while New York and Philadelphia A principios del siglo XX, California era una ciudad emergente, mientras Nueva York y Filadelfia New York ve Philadelphia, Kaliforniya 1900'lerin başlarında hala gelecek vaat ediyordu.

were industry powerhouses.

So most of the actors initially came out of the Northeast before the studios packed up Así que la mayoría de los actores inicialmente salieron del noreste antes de que los estudios empacaran

and headed off to Los Angeles in the 1910s. y se dirigió a Los Ángeles en la década de 1910.

It wasn't until they shifted to the talkies that people ever heard an actor's voice İnsanların bir oyuncunun sesini duydukları konuşmalara geçene kadar değildi.

off a live stage - and they were surprised to hear that they all talked the same way. de un escenario en vivo - y se sorprendieron al oír que todos hablaban de la misma manera.

If there was a legendary actor of the era, they probably had this accent.

Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, even horror master Vincent Price all spoke

in this style.

For a long time, it seemed to be everywhere - and then it wasn't. Долгое время казалось, что она повсюду - а потом ее не стало.

Where did the Mid-Atlantic Accent go?

Hollywood continued to encourage actors to learn this accent into the 1940s, but then

the focus of Hollywood started to shift.

Sound improved, and actors were better able to get across their natural bass. El sonido mejoró y los actores pudieron transmitir mejor sus graves naturales.

Directors started focusing on more authentic films, telling stories from around the world,

and having their actors learn authentic accents from those regions.

No longer would a cowboy roaming the Texas border sound like he had just come from crew Ya no sonaría un vaquero vagando por la frontera de Texas como si acabara de llegar de la tripulación Il n'est plus question qu'un cow-boy parcourant la frontière du Texas sonne comme s'il venait d'arriver d'un équipage Artık Teksas sınırında dolaşan bir kovboy, mürettebattan yeni gelmiş gibi ses çıkarmazdı.

practice at a Boston boarding school! pratique dans un internat de Boston !

The decline started at the end of World War II, and increased immigration to the United Düşüş, II.Dünya Savaşı'nın sonunda başladı ve Birleşik'ye göçü artırdı.

States and a more diverse population led to the more distinctive American accents that

we all know today.

Our world was less defined by our connection to the United Kingdom, and an accent that

bridged the gap wasn't as necessary.

So did the Mid-Atlantic Accent simply fade away?

Yes and no.

While it's not traditionally taught as a critical part of vocal training for all actors

now, you can still learn it from many of the top vocal coaches and at prominent acting

schools.

That's because the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the era that surrounds it, are now part

of American history.

And that means only one thing in Hollywood - it's time to make movies about that era. Ve bu Hollywood'da tek bir anlama geliyor - o dönemle ilgili filmler yapma zamanı.

Hollywood prides itself on historical accuracy now like never before, with a big push for Hollywood, daha önce hiç olmadığı kadar tarihi doğruluktan gurur duyuyor.

accurate casting and directors often consulting with historians while making their films. doğru oyuncu kadrosu ve yönetmenler, filmlerini çekerken genellikle tarihçilere danışırlar.

They want everything to fit the time period - including the way the actors speak.

The accent stayed for certain characters even after it fell out of use in the 1950s and Aksan, 1950'lerde kullanım dışı kaldıktan sonra bile bazı karakterler için kaldı ve

1960s, mostly for characters who were supposed to be stuffy, upper-crust New Englanders. años sesenta, sobre todo para personajes que se suponía que eran estirados y de la alta burguesía de Nueva Inglaterra. Les années 1960, principalement pour des personnages censés être des habitants de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.

Soon enough, the accent went from a sign of elites to a sign of comedy characters. Çok geçmeden, aksan elitlerin işaretinden komedi karakterlerine dönüştü.

Famous characters like Thurston and Lovey Howell from Gilligan's Island or the Crane Gilligan's Island veya Crane'den Thurston ve Lovey Howell gibi ünlü karakterler

brothers from Frasier used the accent long after it was common.

The most famous later user of the accent, though, didn't come from Earth at all. Sin embargo, el usuario posterior más famoso del acento no procedía en absoluto de la Tierra.

It was menacing galactic tyrant Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones.

The Imperial overlord spoke with a deep bass voice and a Mid-Atlantic accent, and it obviously

worked.

Can you imagine the iconic “I am your father” line being delivered with a California accent?

So where does the Mid-Atlantic accent show up today?

Mostly in movies taking place in the era where it was most popular! Çoğunlukla en popüler olduğu dönemde geçen filmlerde!

Netflix's new film Mank, about the creation of Citizen Kane, recreates the era faithfully

down to the speaking tone of the actors and executives involved.

When director Paul Thomas Anderson was making The Master, a 2020 film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Cuando el director Paul Thomas Anderson estaba rodando The Master, una película de 2020 protagonizada por Joaquin Phoenix,

Amy Adams, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, the notoriously detail-obsessed director wanted Amy Adams ve ünlü bir şekilde detay takıntılı yönetmen rahmetli Philip Seymour Hoffman,

to immerse his viewers in the era.

The late 1940s-era story set among a New England religious cult is considered the most accurate Bir New England dini tarikatı arasında geçen 1940'ların sonlarına ait hikaye, en doğru olanı olarak kabul edilir.

recreation of the Mid-Atlantic accent era by film critic Richard Brody.

Everyone comes off a little stiff and speaks in a specific cadence - exactly as they would Todo el mundo se muestra un poco rígido y habla con una cadencia específica - exactamente como lo harían

have back then.

So while the Mid-Atlantic accent may be a thing of the past and today's actors don't

have that distinctive speaking style, the art of that style will continue to be taught.

After all, Hollywood loves movies about movies.

For more on the complexities of language, check out “This Is the Most Difficult Language

in the World”, and for more on the strange history of Hollywood, check out “The Most

Surprising Historical Celebrity Deaths”.