Foreign Words - Main Characters

Main Characters

Nicolaides is the protagonist and narrator of Foreign Words. He is a Greek novelist living in France who writes in both French and Greek and translates between them. The year the story takes place, Nicolaides’ father has died. His father has left behind a letter for Nicolaides, written not by him but by his father (Nicolaides’ grandfather), and throughout the novel Nicolaides struggles with whether or not he will read this letter. What he does do is embark on a study of the Sango language.

Georges is Nicolaides’ French publisher. It is later revealed that he has an adopted daughter from Africa.

Jean Fergusson is Nicolaides’ friend, an ethnologist and journalist who is battling skin cancer when the main action of the novel takes place. He has a relationship with a woman named Sandra, with whom he conceives a child and marries.

Alice is a married woman with whom Nicolaides has an on-again, off-again affair. In one scene she comes over to his apartment and seems to demonstrate jealousy toward his infatuation with Sango.

Paul-Marie and Mathilde Bourquin are an older married couple of linguists Nicolaides meets through his friend Jean Fergusson. They are the ones who introduce him to Sango and give him a dictionary, which was co-written by Mathilde.

Marcel Alingbindo is a native of the CAR living in France with his wife and some of his children, although he has other children who are still back in Africa. He is invested in teaching Sango as well as enriching it through the use of neologisms. He teaches Nicolaides about the use of tones in Sango and how messages can be communicated through whistling, if done correctly.

Esther is a young, attractive waitress at a restaurant in Bangui. Nicolaides wonders if she is a pupulenge, (“slut”). He would like to sleep with her, but never does.