In school we learn that is it correct to say either English or the English language, but it is a mistake to say just English language without the.
Yet I recently happened to read an article in some learning materials about New Zealand and the author many times wrote just Maori language (no the), although a few times he did it with the – the Maori language.
How is it possible? Was it a mistake of a native speaker or the rule itself has become shaky?
The ‘rule’ you quote does not apply in all contexts.
e.g.
There are certain English language rules which we can learn.
-would be incorrect with ‘the’.
Got it! Thank you.
It really depends whether you are referring to the language as itself and only the language as in: The English language is spoken throughout the world, in which case you use the definite article ‘the’ or whether you are using the two words in an adjectival way when there would be no article - English language newspapers can be found in many capital city airports.
Here is the context:
Recently, Maori language became a core school subject. Many New Zealanders encourage this development, recognising that Maori language is an integral part of New Zealand’s culture. The Maoris probably originated from around Japan, as the pronunciation of the Maori language is very similar to Japanese, and the Japanese can often say Maori words more convincingly than the average non-Maori New Zealander.
Hi, Shatilof:
You are right! The definite article is obviously needed in this case.
Well, some say it is not quite, as here we deal with a name of a school subject…
… which is exactly why I didn’t try to define it other than to point out that sometimes the ‘rule’ doesn’t apply. 