[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.40,0:00:04.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kevin Spacey grew up in California, but in\NHouse of Cards, he plays a politician from
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.63,0:00:08.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,South Carolina. "As we used to say in Gaffney..."\NThe first thing you'll notice about Spacey's
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.63,0:00:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accent when he's playing Frank Underwood is\Nwhat happens to a lot of his Rs. "Money is
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.22,0:00:19.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling\Napart after 10 years. Power..." This is called
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.75,0:00:23.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,r-dropping, and it's a feature of several\Nwell-known dialects. "He would rather the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.94,0:00:29.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poor were poorer." "The greatest wilderness\Non Earth." "In the tradition of bipartisanship."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.96,0:00:34.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Metropolitan Museum of Art." But it's also\Nassociated with the upper class of the plantation
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.81,0:00:40.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,South. "This war talk's spoiling all the fun\Nat every party this spring." R-dropping emerged
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.35,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as kind of an affectation among posh people\Nin southern Britain in the 18th century -- the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.00,0:00:49.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,English didn't always talk that way. And then\Nit spread to elites on the East Coast of the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.46,0:00:54.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,US. At the same time, r-dropping was a feature\Nof the creole and West African languages spoken
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.94,0:01:00.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by some of the slaves in the South and their\Ndescendants. But after World War II, new generations
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.33,0:01:04.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of white Southerners essentially abandoned\Nr-dropping, so today you'll see it mostly
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.60,0:01:10.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the very oldest generation, or more frequently\Nwith African-American speakers from the South.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.43,0:01:15.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take Lindsey Graham as an example. Like Kevin\NSpacey's character, Graham is from the northern
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.25,0:01:21.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,part of South Carolina, and his Rs are largely\Nintact. "going to sell the oil to another
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.22,0:01:26.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,customer." And that may be because language\Nin the Southern Appalachian areas was influenced
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.63,0:01:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by settlers from Ireland, where people aren't\Nexactly shy with their Rs. "Seriously. Serious.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.32,0:01:39.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How close does that sound to the Kentucky\Naccent where they talk like that and I'm talking
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.32,0:01:42.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like this?" Regardless, R-dropping probably\Ncan't be the shortcut that white actors use
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.78,0:01:47.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to sound Southern in the future. Instead,\Nthe main feature that unites Southern dialects
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.29,0:01:53.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is something called /ay/-ungliding. For people\Noutside the South, this vowel has two parts.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.56,0:01:58.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can probably feel your tongue shifting\Nas you say the word "buy." But in Southern
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.42,0:02:05.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,speech, /ay/ is a one-part vowel in many cases,\Nsounding more like ah than ay. "Five" "and
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.42,0:02:09.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,livelihoods" "terrified." But there's an important\Ndistinction here that Northerners might not
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.100,0:02:15.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be aware of. Most Southerners only do ay-ungliding\Nbefore what's called voiced consonants, or
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.93,0:02:20.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the end of a word. The difference between\Nvoiced and voiceless consonants is whether
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.41,0:02:26.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your vocal chords vibrate when you say them,\Nand ay-ungliding before voiceless consonants
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.42,0:02:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is stereotyped in the South as a less-educated\Nway of speaking. "But I don't want your life."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.54,0:02:36.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ay-ungliding triggers a shift in the vowels,\Nor in the space in the mouth where the vowels
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.67,0:02:42.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are formed. The ey-sound shifts lower in the\Nmouth. "And then blame somebody else." The
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.51,0:02:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eh-sound moves forward to the front of the\Nmouth. "Just as strong and opinionated as
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.92,0:02:53.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,men." As do the vowels pronounced in the back\Nof the mouth like go and boot. "Thank you."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.83,0:02:57.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These vowel shifts occur to different degrees\Nin different parts of the South, and they're
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.63,0:03:02.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certainly fading in cities where there's a\Nlot of migration and generational change.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.71,0:03:06.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you're an actor from the North or the\NWest, the vowels are really the key
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.51,0:00:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to sounding Southern.