The Spelling of Cannot

Tue Jan 30 07:50:15 UTC 2001

Is it because cannot is the only one where the vowel in the modal verb
becomes (can become) a schwa? This would make it more natural to spell it as
one word.

Benjamin Barrett
gogaku at ix.netcom.com

> -----Original Message-----
> Of Natalie Maynor
> Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 8:21 AM
>
> A student recently asked one of my colleagues why "cannot" is
> usually spelled as one word while the other negatives aren't.
> Is there an answer?