Hyphenated compounds have largely been neglected in the studies of compounding, which have seldom analysed compounds in context. In this study, we argue that the hyphen use in compounds is strongly motivated. Hyphenation is used when words form a unit, which reduces the possibility of parsing them into separate units or other forms. The current study adopts a new perspective on contextual factors, namely, which part of speech (PoS) the compound as a whole belongs to and how people correctly parse a compound into a unit. This process can be observed and analysed by considering examples. This study therefore holds that hyphenation might have gradually become a compounding technique that differs from general compounding principles. To better understand hyphenated compounds and the motivation for using hyphenation, we conduct a quantitative investigation into their distribution frequency to explore how English hyphenated compounds have been used in over the last 200 years. Diachronic change in the frequency of the distribution for compounds has seldom been considered. This question is explored by using frequency data obtained from the three databases that contain hyphenated compounds. Diachronic analysis shows that the frequencies of tokens and types in hyphenated compounds have been increasing, and changes in both frequencies follow the S-curve model. Historical evidence shows that hyphenation in compounds, as an orthographic form, does not seem to disappear easily. Familiarity and economy, as suggested in the cognitive studies of compounding, cannot adequately explain this phenomenon. The three databases that we used provide cross-verification that suggests that hyphenation has evolved into a compounding technique. Language users probably unconsciously take advantage of the discriminative learning model to remind themselves that these combinations should be parsed differently. Thus the hyphenation compounding technique facilitates communication efficiency. Overall, this study significantly enhances our understanding of the nature of compounding, the motivations for using hyphenation, and its cognitive processing.

联用化合物在配混研究中已被大大忽略，而在上下文研究中很少分析这些化合物。在这项研究中，我们认为在化合物中使用连字符是强烈动机。单词构成一个单位时使用连字符，这减少了将它们解析为单独的单位或其他形式的可能性。当前的研究对上下文因素采用了新的观点，即整个化合物属于哪一部分语音（PoS）以及人们如何正确地将化合物解析为一个单元。可以通过考虑实例来观察和分析此过程。因此，这项研究认为，断字可能已逐渐成为一种不同于一般复合原则的复合技术。为了更好地了解连字符的化合物以及使用连字符的动机，我们对其分布频率进行了定量研究，以探讨近200年来如何使用英语连字符的化合物。很少考虑化合物分布频率的历时变化。通过使用从包含连字符的三个数据库中获得的频率数据来探索这个问题。历时分析显示，连字化合物中标记和类型的频率一直在增加，并且两个频率的变化都遵循S曲线模型。历史证据表明，化合物的连字以正字形式似乎并不容易消失。正如复合认知研究中所建议的那样，熟悉和经济无法充分解释这种现象。我们使用的三个数据库提供了交叉验证，这表明连字已演变为一种复合技术。语言用户可能会不知不觉地利用区分学习模型来提醒自己，这些组合应以不同的方式解析。因此，断字合成技术有助于提高通信效率。总体而言，这项研究极大地增强了我们对复合的本质，使用连字符的动机及其认知处理的理解。