Mid-Atlantic accent
Blended prestige dialect
A Mid-Atlantic accent is a cultivated way of speaking that blends American and British pronunciation, neither fully one nor the other.
It was deliberately taught in American elite schools and theater programs through the mid-20th century, producing the clipped, refined speech heard in old Hollywood films and Katharine Hepburn's performances.
The accent has largely disappeared from natural use but remains recognizable as a marker of old-money affectation or theatrical training: She affected a Mid-Atlantic accent for the stage.
- early 20th century1900s first decades
- elocutionFormal speaking skill
- speech coachInstructor for verbal delivery
- prestigeReputation commanding admiration
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
theatricality · radio broadcasting · stage presence · Katharine Hepburn · enunciation · aristocracy · diphthongs · social mobility · cosmopolitanism · boarding schools · articulation · elitism · public speaking · finishing school · Great Depression · educational reforms · upper crust · phonology
- Standard Languagesstandard language, Mandarin Chinese, High German, BBC English, Oxford English
Mid-Atlantic accentnative accent
Speech pattern from origin
regional dialect · local dialect · regional accent · native dialect · Boston accent
Atlantic, accent, middle, midway, midnight, midpoint, midterm, midfield, midair