Common Lexeme

can

Keywords: mechanics

Pronunciation (IPA): t͡ʃan 
Part of Speech: modifier 
Class: manner 
Forms: can, canyn, canno, ecán, ecányn 
Glosses: tight, hard, tough, tightly, tighten, harden, toughen, strong, strengthen, harness, toughness, tightness, difficult, hardship, stress, strain 

Description:

The modifier 'can' means tight, tough or hard, with 'tight' as in screwed in tight as the most stereotypical meaning. It refers to hard or tough objects as well as things that have been connected very firmly, and can apply metaphorically to people in a way that would make sense to English speakers, that of a tough or strong person, with invulnerability being emphasized more that potency. It can also have the sense of 'difficult'.

'Can' is also a popular transliteration of the name 'John', not only for being a close phonological match to the English version of the name, but also for the direct metaphorical extension to toughness from the Common homonym. For than reason, it's a popular name even in areas without an English substratum.

The term form 'canyn' means 'hardness', 'toughness' or 'tightness' as a noun, and as a verb is an intransitive pali verb meaning to be tight - but the skurun causative form that adds an agent doing the tightening is probably more popular than the base form.

The derived form ecán refers to strain or stress, and can have the sense of being under strain or of causing strain, this is usually clear form context. The derived form ecányn means strain or stress. This bis not the scientific term for stress as in stress on a structure, but is popular colloquially. The usage appears to have been invented by the fan community in the earlier period.

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