Re: Weekly Vocab 6: to know

--- Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> wrote:
> * What in the ergativity is the infinitive of "can"?
> "To can" appears to mean
> something else ... The English modals appear not to
> deign to have any
> infinitives.
>
>                                              Andreas
Well, Andreas, I've spoken this language for 30 years
and taught it for 6 and it never even crossed my mind
until this moment.  Sometimes you really DO need an
outside perspective.

*to can
*to might
*to may
*to could
*to should
*to shall
*to should
*to will

All of them utterly unacceptable except _to can_,
which then means "to preserve in a can or jar" or "to
shut up" and _to will_, which then means "To do by
force of mind" or "to give by testament".

Adam

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