Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen | solitude.dk

I call the shots med tibetanertøj fra Mars I shoot the calls en wannabe Darth Vader

For Christmas I got an album by the Danish band Nephew, and a book on the history of the English language. Linguistics is something I really like reading about, and I've enjoyed the few college courses I've taken. I like to think of it as a hobby, but I probably don't spend enough time on the topic for it to be one. Languages really do amaze me (human languages, computer languages are too rigid to be amazing).

But back to Nephew… Their lyrics are interesting because they mix Danish and English as you can see in the quotes above and below from the song “En Wannabe Darth Vader”.

Fuck af, get in and shout hvor fra kom Twix? — fra Raider breathe in, breathe out hvor fra kom jeg? — Darth Vader

I think it's a pretty interesting use of language to mix things together like that. Personally I would be a bit sad if everyone talked in a mixed tongue in their daily life. At the same time I can only be glad that Danish is alive to an extent where mixing is not only possible, but not a problem at all.

In recent times English has certainly influenced Danish very much. All computer-related words in Danish come from English. Computer, laptop and software are all valid Danish words. DSN (the official agency for the Danish Language) tells me that 13% of new words in Danish between 1955 and 1999 come directly from English (like Dolby, deathmetal and never mind). In addition 14% are hybrids where part of the new word comes directly from English (like hårspray). We even have pseudo English words like babylift and bigshopper that do not exist in English, but look and sound like English words. I should remember to note that 57% of the new words are completely Danish constructions (like reservebedstemor — literally “spare grandmother”).

If you prefer English over Danish I just skimmed through Dean Esmay's Understanding Language (via Anil). It talks about Black Vernacular English and how this should be taken as seriously as any other language instead. It looks very interesting.

I'll go back to listening to Newphew now. The band has made a one minute sound clip of “En Wannabe Darth Vader” [940 kilobyte] available if you would like to listen to some great Danish rock music.