Characters who speak in broken English by choice?

[Greeny]

Hi, I'm looking for fictional examples where the characters speak in broken English or somewhat bizarre syntax by choice (either for fun, just because they prefer it that way, or for some other reason).

 

Thanks in advance!

[Athena]

Hmmm well I know of some characters who speak with accents, but when does one call it broken English? As someone whose first language is Dutch (not English), I'm not entirely sure! I know characters who change some of their wording but I don't know any that change every word they say. Ones I can think of at the moment, that speak with an accent, are Hagrid from the Harry Potter books (by J. K. Rowling), Asher from the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series (by Karen Miller) or some characters from The Maze Runner books (by James Dashner). I've also heard the Chaos Walking trilogy (by Patrick Ness) has some characters with accents but I haven't read that yet. I'm sure there's more but this is all I can think of for now. I don't know if this is what you're looking for, though. Personally I prefer it when characters speak 'normal' readable English as due to the fact it's my second language and not first, I find it difficult to understand if characters don't speak correctly (the same goes for when people type on internet sites such as Facebook).

[frankie]

I also had to google what 'broken English' means, I wasn't sure if it meant native English speakers grammatically incorrect English or the English foreigners sometimes produce. This is what wiki had to say: 

 

"Broken English refers to a poorly spoken or written version of the English language, perhaps a pidgin. Under the strictest definition of the term, broken English consists of English vocabulary grafted onto the syntax, including word order, other aspects of sentence structure, and presence or absence of articles, of a speaker's native non-English language, typically along with the stripping of linguistic markings not shared by English and the speaker's native language, such as definite articles or certain verb tenses."

 

There was also one example on the site: "For example, in Henry V, William Shakespeare used broken English to convey the national pride of Scottish and Irish allies in the King's invasion of Normandy." 

 

I confess, I am still not really sure if the original poster wants English broken English or non-native broken English  

Edited November 14, 2014 by frankie

[Hayley]

Terry Pratchett's Nac Mac Feegle (from 'The Wee Free Men', 'A Hat Full of Sky' and 'Wintersmith') come to mind (or at least they did after I read Frankie's explanation  )

[Anna Begins]

Trainspotting.  Irvine Welsh.  And good luck, I needed the audiobook for that one.

[Ooshie]

Trainspotting.  Irvine Welsh.  And good luck, I needed the audiobook for that one.

I think the language in Trainspotting is Scots (or a dialect of Scots) rather than broken English, Anna; although it shares some common roots with English it is widely regarded as a separate language - particularly in Scotland :-D

 

There is a page on Wikipedia titled 'Scots language' that looks interesting, although I haven't read the whole thing.

[Anna Begins]

I think the language in Trainspotting is Scots (or a dialect of Scots) rather than broken English, Anna; although it shares some common roots with English it is widely regarded as a separate language - particularly in Scotland :-D

 

There is a page on Wikipedia titled 'Scots language' that looks interesting, although I haven't read the whole thing.

Ya know, I knew that while recommending it, but it just seemed to fit the idea of the posters want.  It was SO hard for me to get through (although you and Alexi might not think so!  I hope you weren't offended  ).

[Ooshie]

Ya know, I knew that while recommending it, but it just seemed to fit the idea of the posters want.  It was SO hard for me to get through (although you and Alexi might not think so!  I hope you weren't offended  ).

 

Oh no, not offended at all - I speak Scots, but I don't read it! :-)

[Anna Begins]

Oh no, not offended at all - I speak Scots, but I don't read it! :-)

Oh good, I'm glad I didn't offend.     I loved it.  Just couldn't read it  Hence, the wonderful audiobook.  Although, by the end of Trainspotting, I did learn more and was able to read certain parts on my own. 

edit: I love the title The Man who Mistook his wife for a Hat

Edited November 16, 2014 by Anna Begins