Is it "cringe" to say *"inshallah"*? Politicians will reveal their use of foreign words.

The Danish language is enriched every year with a multitude of foreign words—and when the Arabic term *inshallah* (if God wills) was included in *Den Danske Ordbog* (The Danish Dictionary) last year, it prompted several politicians at Christiansborg to take the mother tongue seriously.

"Oh my god" is another expression that doesn’t sit well with Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt (M), as stated in a press release. Just as he dislikes the phrase, he believes we could simply say *"åh gud"* (oh God) in proper Danish instead.

Engel-Schmidt leads a new political agreement, where the government, along with the Social Democrats (SF) and the Conservatives, aims to secure the future of the Danish language through three initiatives.

*"There are six million Danes and a few more who speak Danish, and it’s not a given that the language will endure in the future unless we remain conscious of its preservation,"* he tells Ritzau about the new deal.

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### How politicians plan to safeguard the language

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* **Danish Language Council to take a more active role in language protection:** The state research institution, which monitors the language’s development, will now also conduct a more *"proactive effort to protect Danish"*—for example, by contacting authorities or institutions to limit unnecessary use of English.

* **Strengthened public service obligation to promote Danish:** The public service agreement with DR, TV2, and TV2 regions will now explicitly require media to contribute to reinforcing and protecting the Danish language.

* **New advisory board to guide media on language preservation:** The Danish Language Council will establish a specialized advisory board for media language, tasked with offering guidance on proper Danish usage.

**Source:** Ministry of Culture.

The culture minister fears that Danish as a language *"will gradually be devalued"* (derived from the French *dévaluer*) if no political action is taken. He believes the language is under threat.

But there’s no reason to worry that Danish is on a downward spiral (the French term *dérive* meaning decline). At least not if you ask two experts in the field.

*"The language can handle foreign words just fine. Danish isn’t declining or losing value because of them,"* says **Sabine Kirchmeier-Andersen**, a linguist and former director of the Danish Language Council.

**Michael Ejstrup**, a linguist, author, and former head of language research at Denmark’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, doesn’t think the law will have a major impact on everyday language use.

*"We can’t control the informal language of society. It’s what it is and evolves as it always has,"* he states.

The agreement specifies that DR and TV2 must prioritize protecting Danish as part of their public service obligations. *(Photo: © Sebastian Elias Uth, Ritzau Scanpix)*

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### A language with inferiority complexes

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Ejstrup can’t recall any previous political measures to curb foreign words in Danish.

*"It’s not something we’ve traditionally done in Denmark,"* he says.

Instead, we have a long history of feeling inferior about our native tongue, according to him. This is one reason why Danish has consistently absorbed foreign words—and why we shouldn’t be concerned that the language is suddenly under threat, as the minister suggests, the linguist argues.

*"Throughout history, we’ve tended to undervalue our own language. There’s always been a tendency in the royal court, among the nobility, and in places of power and wealth to believe that foreign languages were superior,"* says Ejstrup.

That’s why the Danish language we know today is filled with foreign loanwords, he explains. Nine percent of our vocabulary comes from French, while eight to ten percent can be traced back to English. Nowadays, we pronounce them in a Danish way, so their origins aren’t noticeable, he adds.

**Read also:** Parties want a language law: *"Should we call an air fryer a ‘luftfritøse’ or a baby lift a ‘spædbarnskurv’?"* *(https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/partier-vil-have-sproglov-skal-vi-kalde-en-airfryer-en-luftfritoese-eller-en)*

**Sabine Kirchmeier-Andersen** shares the same view—she doesn’t consider it dangerous to see more foreign words. They simply reflect a language in flux, she says.

*"For centuries, we’ve borrowed words from other languages. About a quarter of our vocabulary originally comes from German,"* she states.

*"There are many words we don’t even think about that we’ve borrowed from German: ‘stof’ (fabric), ‘borger’ (citizen), ‘frokost’ (lunch), ‘jakke’ (jacket). And the word ‘blive’ (to become) also comes from German,"* she adds.

Ejstrup previously served as head of language research at Denmark’s School of Journalism and Media Studies and teaches at Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark. *(Archive photo). (Photo: © Niels Ahlmann Olesen, Ritzau Scanpix)*

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### Symbolic politics with potential

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While neither expert believes the language is in crisis, both agree that the new political agreement holds potential.

**Sabine Kirchmeier-Andersen**, the former director of the Danish Language Council, thinks it’s reasonable to impose stricter demands on established media, as they play a significant role in shaping the language.

*"Foreign words aren’t a threat to the language itself, but they can become one for communication. It can be difficult for people to understand what’s happening in the news if foreign words aren’t explained or used thoughtfully,"* she says.

Ejstrup doesn’t believe media language use has a major effect on young people, who are more likely to engage with social media and English than previous generations.

Is this just symbolic politics?

*"In a way, yes,"* he replies before adding:

*"But if we think carefully and apply the law in the right places, it could have a good effect."*

According to Ejstrup, it could help reduce some of the historical inferiority complexes surrounding the Danish language—especially if taken seriously in public institutions, such as educational settings.

*"As for which language we should speak—dialects, youth slang, or ghetto Danish—I’d say ‘good luck’ with that. You can’t legislate that. But you can decide that we shouldn’t undervalue our own language in public contexts."*

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