CANNOT in sign language

Meaning: can not; to be unable or not allowed to.

Antonym: CAN.

Related signs: CAN TELL (CANNOT TELL), NOT

Deaf Culture

Growing up, I remember several Deaf students and I were told by our Deaf teachers (also our role models) at a deaf school, "CANNOT, NO (shaking head), CANNOT-opposite". This sign is backward. This help deaf children fight against the systemic dysconscious audism which deaf children internalized the belief that they couldn't do as well as hearing children, which was not true.

Contextual variation. Glossed as: CANNOT+++, nah, [wordplay+++]. Plural.

Contextual variation. Glossed as CANNOT+++, nah, [wordplay+++], CAN!

Usage/Grammar

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