Where does “-을 수 없다” come from?

-을 수 없다 (Korean) comes from Korean -을, from Middle Korean -을, from Old Korean 乙.

-을 수 없다 (Korean): cannot; to be able to; to be impossible

Definitions

  1. cannot; to be able to; to be impossible

Ancestry of “-을 수 없다”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean-을In "long negation" constructions with
2Middle Korean-을Accusative case marker
3Old Korean乙—
Every word from Old Korean 乙 →Every word from Korean -을 →Every word from Middle Korean -을 →