diff --git a/src/LyXAction.cpp b/src/LyXAction.cpp
index a58fc5e341..b143c87c00 100644
--- a/src/LyXAction.cpp
+++ b/src/LyXAction.cpp
@@ -2475,9 +2475,14 @@ void LyXAction::init()
 /*!
  * \var lyx::FuncCode lyx::LFUN_LANGUAGE
  * \li Action: Set language from the current cursor position.
- * \li Syntax: language <LANG>
+ * \li Syntax: language <LANG> [set]
  * \li Params: <LANG>: Requested language. Look in lib/languages for
-                       the list.
+                       the list. "language reset" or "language" (without param)
+                       reset to the document language.
+                  set: If used, the language will be set to the specified
+                       language. Otherwise, the language will be toggled (i.e., if
+                       the current language is LANG, switch to the document language
+                       or the default language, if LANG is the document language).
  * \li Origin: Dekel, 2 Mar 2000
  * \endvar
  */
diff --git a/src/Text3.cpp b/src/Text3.cpp
index dc30d5aded..50a6d3d12c 100644
--- a/src/Text3.cpp
+++ b/src/Text3.cpp
@@ -1895,12 +1895,19 @@ void Text::dispatch(Cursor & cur, FuncRequest & cmd)
 	}
 
 	case LFUN_LANGUAGE: {
-		Language const * lang = languages.getLanguage(to_utf8(cmd.argument()));
-		if (!lang)
+		string const lang_arg = cmd.getArg(0);
+		bool const reset = (lang_arg.empty() || lang_arg == "reset");
+		Language const * lang =
+			reset ? reset_language
+			      : languages.getLanguage(lang_arg);
+		// we allow reset_language, which is 0, but only if it
+		// was requested via empty or "reset" arg.
+		if (!lang && !reset)
 			break;
+		bool const toggle = (cmd.getArg(1) != "set");
 		selectWordWhenUnderCursor(cur, WHOLE_WORD_STRICT);
 		Font font(ignore_font, lang);
-		toggleAndShow(cur, this, font, false);
+		toggleAndShow(cur, this, font, toggle);
 		break;
 	}
 
@@ -2667,7 +2674,7 @@ bool Text::getStatus(Cursor & cur, FuncRequest const & cmd,
 
 	case LFUN_LANGUAGE:
 		enable = !cur.paragraph().isPassThru();
-		flag.setOnOff(to_utf8(cmd.argument()) == cur.real_current_font.language()->lang());
+		flag.setOnOff(cmd.getArg(0) == cur.real_current_font.language()->lang());
 		break;
 
 	case LFUN_BREAK_PARAGRAPH:
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/Menus.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/Menus.cpp
index 367f14b120..a3adbbac58 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/Menus.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/Menus.cpp
@@ -887,7 +887,7 @@ void MenuDefinition::expandLanguageSelector(Buffer const * buf)
 			}
 		}
 		MenuItem w(MenuItem::Command, label,
-			FuncRequest(LFUN_LANGUAGE, (*cit)->lang()));
+			FuncRequest(LFUN_LANGUAGE, (*cit)->lang() + " set"));
 		item.submenu().addWithStatusCheck(w);
 	}
 	item.submenu().add(MenuItem(MenuItem::Separator));