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Character languages
From Lostpedia
- "Languages" redirects here. If you are looking for other languages of Lostpedia, please see Lostpedia:Languages.
Every character on Lost speaks some form or variant of a language. The predominant language spoken on the original broadcasts of the show is American English, though variants of this language, as well as entirely different languages are used, often with English subtitles. Every main character on the show speaks at least some English. Several characters can speak up to four other languages on the show besides English (Naomi, Mikhail and Danielle).
Contents |
Character Languages
Below is a list of important characters who speak languages other than English.
| Character | Languages |
|---|---|
Ana Lucia Cortez | |
Benjamin Linus | |
Charlotte Lewis | |
Danielle Rousseau | |
Mr. Eko | |
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes | |
Jin-Soo Kwon | |
Mikhail Bakunin | |
Nadia | |
Naomi Dorrit | |
Mr. Paik | |
Sayid Jarrah | |
Shannon Rutherford | |
Sun-Hwa Kwon |
Accents
Many characters have distinctive accents when speaking English, showing their countries of origin. Charlie speaks with an English accent, and is able to tell that Naomi hails from Manchester as well, judging from her thick Northern accent. ("Greatest Hits") Michael is able to discern this fact about Naomi as well, presumably judging from his time spent with Charlie. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
Sawyer speaks English with a distinctive Southern accent (having hailed from Alabama). This is easily discernable by his fellow survivors, and sometimes draws insults from other survivors ("redneck man," "hillbilly,").
Several characters speak English with a clear Australian accent. Claire is perhaps the most obvious of these, along with her family and most of her flashback characters, including Carole Littleton, Richard Malkin, and Lindsey. Captain Gault and Hendricks from the Kahana also speak with an Australian accent. Most Australian characters feature a New South Wales variation of Australian accents.
Several other characters speak with accents on the show. Jin and Sun speak English with a slight Korean accent, while Danielle Rousseau speaks with a slight eastern-European accent. Eko speaks with a deep, Nigerian timbre, and his brother Yemi speaks English similarly. Frank Lapidus speaks with a Yankee accent. Most other characters speak English with an American accent.
Language barriers
Language barriers have caused some issues between characters of the show, because they are unable to understand one another. The most notable victim of a language barrier was Jin, because he was unable to speak English while his fellow castaways were. Sun had pretended to be unable to speak English, but was later revealed to be able to. ("...In Translation") Jin later overcame this barrier with the help of Sun. ("Exodus, Part 2")
Another, more minor, language barrier existed between Ben and the Bedouins after he turned the frozen wheel and ended up in the Sahara desert. While being held at gunpoint, Ben tried to speak English with the two of them, and they appeared to not understand. Ben then began speaking Turkish. After incapacitating both of them, Ben learned that one did speak at least partial English ("Surrender!"). He sarcastically noted this, and then knocked out the Bedouin with the butt of his gun. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
Keeping a language a secret
Another minor recurring theme is a character keeping a language secret. The most notable occurrence was Sun's knowledge of English. She kept this a secret from her husband and the other survivors. She couldn't live in the same language barrier her husband lived in and finally opened to Michael, whilst trying to defend her husband.("House of the Rising Sun") After a short period, she unwillingly had to admit the truth to Kate, after it became clear she had understood a comment by Kate in English.("Hearts and Minds")
Her final act was revealing it to everybody at the beach, in order to keep her husband and Michael from fighting. ("...In Translation") Jin at first thought of this as a betrayal, but eventually accepted it as an advantage over his barrier. He used her as translator and as an English teacher.
A more minor occurrence was Charlotte's knowledge of Korean. She reacted in a way that made Jin suspicious that she may understand his and Sun's conversation, while journeying to and at the Staff. He finally confronted her, revealing that he saw through her, and demanded a safe place on the Kahana for Sun. There is no evidence of anybody else knowing Charlotte's secret or about this event.("Something Nice Back Home")

