Can

From Creolista!
Revision as of 20:19, 1 March 2020 by Sashi (talk | contribs) (periphrastics)
Jump to: navigation, search

noun

Soupcan pillars: Royal Scottish Academy, 20th anniversary of Warhol's death, Tom Rolfe, 8.7. 2007

The noun /naʊn/ pronounced /kæ̃nz/ (cans) refers to what in French are called boîtes de conserve. Go figure. :) English "boxes" refer to many things, but not to cylinders. It was a Frenchman, Nicolas Appert, who invented the process of canning, which helped provision Napoleonic troops in the War of 1812.

modal verb

pronunciation

  • Pronounced most often in its weak form: /kn/ or /kən/.
  • The strong form is /kæ̃n/ (The tilda over the ae symbol means it is nasalized: Parlez-vous kwæ̃kwæ̃?) (Cf. la voyelle française de "ben", si aigu au Canada: bɛ̃)
  • The negative contraction can't is pronounced kæ̃t in American English.

etymology

A little history and comparison is helpful here. German kennen and French connaître (to be acquainted with), like English know and Greek gnosis all have the same root sounds.

One possible synonym / periphrastic of can is know how to.

Manon can't cook, but she does know how to sing opera.

periphrastics

One of the most important/frequent periphrastics in English is be able to. jeɪbltə

In both the future and the past (and the conditional or "future of the past") "be able to" is used.

  • will/won't be able to
  • was(n't)/were(n't) able to
  • would(n't) be able to

syntax & semantics

  • invariable
  • cannot be combined with (preceded or followed by) other modal verbs or "to"
  • can be followed by the verbal base / bare infinitive (or nothing)
  • has at least two main meanings (one radical (capability), one "epistemic" (possibility))


can could capability / possibility
will would future / certainty / volonté
shall should value judgement / necessity
may might authorization / probability
must logical necessity / certainty