compound nous

I was wondering...Why is there some compound nous with hiphen and others without? ....I really need to know, because I was asked this question, and I didn´t know the answer...I apreciate it if you could answer.

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by ellayne

I was wondering...Why is there some compound nous with hiphen and others without? ....I really need to know, because I was asked this question, and I didn´t know the answer...I apreciate it if you could answer.

You can do some reading on compound nouns here: http://www.answers.com/topic/english...pound&hl=nouns

[Tdol]

A lot has to do with how old the compound is and how common. The general process is to start as two words, get a hyphen when they are an established pairing and fuse when they become standard.