def joinStringsInList(literalEntities, prefLanguage="en"):
    """
    from a list of literals, returns the ones in prefLanguage joined up.
    if the desired language specification is not available, join all up
    """
    match = []

    if len(literalEntities) == 1:
        return literalEntities[0]
    elif len(literalEntities) > 1:
        for x in literalEntities:
            if getattr(x, 'language') and  getattr(x, 'language') == prefLanguage:
                match.append(x)
        if not match: # don't bother about language
            for x in literalEntities:
                match.append(x)

    return " - ".join([x for x in match])