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For example, is the correct phrase English-language journals or English language journals?

Eddie Kal
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Laurie
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  • This is probably more a matter of style and context than hard-and-fast rules - the hyphen in your example 'ties' the word 'language' to 'English', but could be used to 'tie' the word 'language' to the word 'journals' if that was necessary/appropriate. – MikeB Jul 23 '20 at 10:50
  • Mostly with things like: gun-toting fools//banana-eating donkeys. etc/ – Lambie Jul 23 '20 at 19:00

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There isn't always a hard and fast rule surrounding each compound noun in question - some can be written several ways, for example, "bus-stop" can be written "bus stop".

However, you should ideally use a hyphen when using a compound noun as an attributive noun - in other words, using a noun as an adjective. This is to eliminate any confusion as to which words are joined.

Take your example of "English language journals". Is the word 'language' joined to English, or to journals?

  • An English-language journal would be a journal in or possibly about the English language.
  • An English language-journal would be a journal about language in general, that just happens to be written in English, or arguably even from England.

Your example is the former - you want to use English-language as a compound attribute noun for the journals, so the hyphen ideally should be used.

Another example would be "dry-cleaning shop", a shop that does dry-cleaning. Without the hyphen, it could be a cleaning shop that isn't wet.

Astralbee
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  • Thank you for your answer. My question, however, is about journals that are in English, not about the language. Would “English language journals” be acceptable, or should I write “English-language journals”? – Laurie Jul 23 '20 at 15:11
  • @Laurie I mentioned in my answer that "English-language journal" could also be a journal in English. Thinking about it further, I actually think that would be the first assumption, rather than a journal about language. The wider context would no doubt make that clear anyway. I've adjusted my answer slightly, go with "English-language journals". – Astralbee Jul 23 '20 at 18:42
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    I don't think many would juxtapose your two journal examples. And English language-journal just strikes me as wrong. – Lambie Jul 28 '20 at 21:10