cannot-can't

[sophie_1003]

In the above contraction which n is being taken out, the n in can or the n in not? TIA

[ABerrant]

If it was the 'n' in not the contraction would be ca'n't

[ABerrant]

^ Duh! I meant the 'n' in can

[sophie_1003]

Ah yes, so it would! Thank you v much! Had a bit of a brain freeze this morning when trying to explain it to the children, managed don't and didn't then came undone with can't! I told them I'd check and let them know!

[factor-fiction]

Another way to arrive at the same answer is that it's the 'NO' bit (from NOT) that's removed.

[boxtops]

That's what I was going to say factor, otherwise it would be cann't...

[boxtops]

no <<rethinks.. it would can'ot.

[Quizmonkey]

That's not always the case though - take shan't, for example. And as for won't... try parsing those!

[Quizmonster]

As late as the 1870s, sha'n't - with two separate apostrophes - was still in use in places, although versions of shan't appeared at least two centuries earlier. Given that the usual tendency in language is gradually to simplify things, the extra apostrophe was probably always doomed.
One variant of will, as far back as the 13th century, was spelt wo(l)le, which it still is in German. The negative would have been the two words wolle not. From that, it is easy to see how they were firstly telescoped into the single word, wonnot, and later abbreviated to won't.

[sophie_1003]

Thanks for the extra info Quizmonster, did mention will not to the children and they knew its contraction was won't and we reasoned that willn't sounded wrong!

[factor-fiction]

And what about AIN'T and INNIT?
And why is it acceptable to say "Aren't I" which without the contraction would be "ARE NOT I" - which isnt correct

[factor-fiction]

...I meant "ISN'T correct".... or should that be "AIN'T correct"?

[sophie_1003]

But if you say out loud in a Shaksperian actor voice 'Are not I an honest person.' (just an example!) it sounds right (well it does to me!), maybe another thing that was correct many years ago! Ooh the wonders of the English language!

[Quizmonster]

Ain't has been around since the 1700s, having been used by writers such as Burney, Lamb and Dickens in colloquial situations. Innit is rather more recent, recorded nowhere prior to the late 1950s, so it was not - as one might imagine - invented by Rio Ferdinand!
Amn't I is commonly used in Ireland and Scotland, though in England and America, aren't I is now perfectly normal.
Language is as language is...simple as that.

[jno]

Quizmonster, how is amn't pronounced? Do all four letters get their due?

[MarkRae]

AM-unt

[Quizmonster]

Pretty much as Mark says above, J, though I myself would have used an 'i' rather than a 'u'....basically, it's a schwa. The stress, as he indicated is on the opening syllable.

[jno]

thanks, folks.

[tearinghair]

Oh dear, quizmonster, and I thought I was only 66.......I was writing sha'n't until a few years ago when I finally gave up! (There comes a point when even the most pedantic of us - i.e. me - have to recognise that language simplifies itself.