Lexicalization and Relevance of the Chinese Expression Conglai(从来)

The lexicalization of conglai(从来) has a distinctive feature.At the very beginning of their evolution,cong(从)and lai(来)were separated from each other and they were located in different syntax construction levels.They were directly combined by a special syntactic operation.When fixed as a single lexical item,conglai underwent the process of grammaticalization and changed from a content word(noun) into a function word(adverb).The lexicalization process of conglai represents the lexicalization path of the group of Xlai(X来) in modern Chinese,which indicates the diachronic connection between the noun and the adverb whose conceptual meaning is concerning time.