American Theater Standard, also known as Theater Standard, Eastern Standard, American Stage Speech, Stage Standard, Standard American Pronunciation, Standard American Stage, Skinner Standard, "Good American Speech" or "Good Speech", is a stage dialect associated with the voice coach Edith Skinner and defined in her work Speak With Distinction. It is taught as the appropriate dialect for use in "classics" and "elevated texts" (such as the works of Shakespeare) in several prestigious dramatic schools in the USA, including the Yale School of Drama

Yale School of Drama

The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...

, Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

, the Tisch School of the Arts

Tisch School of the Arts

Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....

, and Carnegie Mellon School of Drama

Carnegie Mellon School of Drama

The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is the oldest degree-granting drama program in the United States, founded in 1914 as a division of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

; it was taught for many years at the American Conservatory Theater

American Conservatory Theater

American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...

 in San Francisco, until being dropped from the curriculum in favor of more contemporary approaches to stage dialects. It codifies a Mid-Atlantic

Mid-Atlantic English

Mid-Atlantic English is a cultivated or acquired version of the English language that is not a typical idiom of any location. It blends American and British without being predominantly either. It is also used to describe various forms of North American speech that have assimilated some British...

 version of English widely used in Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s, associated with figures such as Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 and Franklin Roosevelt.

Vowels

Short monophthong

Monophthong

A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation....

s

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	ɪ		ʊ
Close-Mid Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	e		o*
Open-Mid Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...		ə*
Near-open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...	æ	ʌ
Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...	a		ɒ

* only occurs in unstressed syllables

Long monophthongs

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	iː		uː
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...		ɜː	ɔː
Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...			ɑː

Closing diphthong

Diphthong

A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...

s

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close-mid	eɪ		oʊ
Open-mid			ɔɪ
Open	aɪ		ɑʊ

Centering diphthongs

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close	ɪə		ʊə
Close-mid	ɛə		ɔə
Open			ɑə

Triphthongs

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close
Close-mid
Open	aɪə		ɑʊə

Realization

The long monophthongs and closing diphthongs each have three possible lengths:

• long, when occurring in a stressed syllable and either word-final or followed by a voiced consonant
• mid-long, when otherwise occurring in a stressed syllable
• short, otherwise

All other vowels are short at all times.

Lexical distribution of vowels

This table shows the distribution of the vowels in accordance with the Standard Lexical Sets of John C. Wells:

KIT	ɪ		FLEECE	iː		NEAR	ɪə
DRESS	e		FACE	eɪ		SQUARE	ɛə
TRAP	æ		PALM	ɑː		START	ɑə, ɑː *
LOT	ɒ		THOUGHT	ɔː		NORTH	ɔə, ɔː *
STRUT	ʌ		GOAT	oʊ		FORCE	ɔə, ɔː *
FOOT	ʊ		GOOSE	uː		CURE	ʊə
BATH	a		PRICE	aɪ		happY	ɪ
CLOTH	ɒ		CHOICE	ɔɪ		lettER	ə
NURSE	ɜː		MOUTH	ɑʊ		commA	ə 1

* In words of the START, NORTH and FORCE sets, closing diphthongs are used wherever a historical /r/ has been vocalized, and in the close derivatives of such words: long monophthongs are used elsewhere. Thus star is /stɑə/, starring is /ˈstɑərɪŋ/, but Sahara is /səˈhɑːrə/. Similarly, score is /skɔə/, scorer is /ˈskɔərə/, but Taurus is /ˈtɔːrəs/.

¹ The commA set is specially marked to disallow the use of intrusive R (see below).

Triphthongs are used in words such as hire /haɪə/, flower /flɑʊə/.

In unstressed syllables, /o/ is used in words such as obey /oˈbeɪ/. It usually occurs in the first syllable of a word, and is never found at the end of a word.

In unstressed syllables, /ɪ/ (rather than /ə/) is used in many places including the prefixes ex-, be-, de-, se-, re-, pre- and the suffixes -ed (when pronounced), -et, -it, -est, -less, -ness, -in, -ing, -ive, -eth, -es, and -age. (See weak vowel merger).

In Speak With Distinction, Skinner herself used a different set of keywords: will, let, Pat, honest, cup, would, pass, stir,Lee, pay, fathers, all, go, who, you, my, boy, now, here's, their, car, ore, poor, the surprise.

Consonants

	Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	Labio- dental Labiodental consonant In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	Dental	Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	Post- alveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...	Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...	Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...	m			n			ŋ
Plosive	p  b			t  d			k  ɡ
Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...					tʃ  dʒ
Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...		f  v	θ  ð	s  z	ʃ  ʒ		ʍ	h
Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no...					r	j	w
Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....				l

ʍ is used in most words spelled "wh".
/h/ may be voiced ([ɦ]) between two vowel sounds. Linking R is used but intrusive R is not permitted. The consonant clusters /tj/, /dj/, /nj/, /sj/ and /lj/ (as in tune, due, new, pursue, evolution) are all present, as found in Received Pronunciation, but in few North American dialects (see yod dropping). In /sj/ and /lj/, yod dropping is optional.

Comparison with other accents

American Theater Standard is similar to English Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...

 (RP). The chief points of difference are:

• The addition of a distinctive phoneme /a/ for words in the BATH set only. This is sometimes known as "Intermediate A" (contrasting to "Broad A" of RP).
• The addition of closing diphthongs /ɑə/, /ɔə/ for most words in the START, NORTH and FORCE sets. This means that American Theater Standard distinguishes pairs such as father-farther and caught-court that are homophones in RP.
• The starting point of the GOAT diphthong (/oʊ/ rather than /əʊ/).
• The presence of the unstressed /o/ vowel.
• The lack of intrusive R.
• The presence of /ʍ/, and resistance to the wine–whine merger.

Comparison with General American

General American

General American , also known as Standard American English , is a major accent of American English. The accent is not restricted to the United States...

 accents reveals far more extensive differences:

• Resistance to the father-bother and cot–caught mergers.
• The separate phoneme /a/ for words in the BATH set.
• Absence of the lot–cloth split.,
• Retention of vowel length distinctions.
• Resistance to the weak vowel merger.
• Nonprevocalic /r/ is either replaced by centering diphthongs or dropped completely.
• Resistance to the Mary-marry-merry, mirror-nearer and hurry–furry mergers.
• Absence of yod dropping after /t/, /d/ and /n/.
• Absence of lenition of intervocalic /t/
  Intervocalic alveolar flapping
  Intervocalic alveolar flapping is a phonological process found in many dialects of English, especially North American English and Australian English, by which either or both prevocalic and surface as the alveolar tap after sonorants other than , , and .*after vowel: butter*after r:...
  
  .

Criticism

American Theater Standard has been criticized as "mired in a self-serving and archaic notion of Euphony, and in a model of class, ethnic and racial hierarchy that is irrelevant to the acting of classical texts and repellent to the sensibilities of most theatre artists", and as "a strange artifact of the Edwardian era [that] still exists, little changed, as we approach the year 2000". It is said to sound "somewhat British, but not fully so".