The character is a Dutch naval officer in 1746: he impersonates a poor Dutch sailor while working undercover for the British government. In fact, he speaks excellent English, but pretends to speak it very poorly.
I'm not trying for too much phonetic spelling here, but I'd like a few differences, perhaps along the lines of substituting "v" for "w" that would be authentic to the situation. Because he is acting a part, and the English don't know any better, I could theoretically have him speak in a ridiculous way that has no linguistic consistency at all, but: because he is a secondary character without a POV, and the reader has no idea that his act is a fake for most of the book, I don't want to be accused of poking fun at Dutch people, or of gifting him with an implausible manner of speech. Thanks for any suggestions or experiences!
I'm not trying for too much phonetic spelling here, but I'd like a few differences, perhaps along the lines of substituting "v" for "w" that would be authentic to the situation. Because he is acting a part, and the English don't know any better, I could theoretically have him speak in a ridiculous way that has no linguistic consistency at all, but: because he is a secondary character without a POV, and the reader has no idea that his act is a fake for most of the book, I don't want to be accused of poking fun at Dutch people, or of gifting him with an implausible manner of speech. Thanks for any suggestions or experiences!