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{{Short description|Pronunciation of "C" in Latin-based orthographies}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2025}}
{{IPA notice}}

In the [[Latin script|Latin-based]] orthographies of many European [[language]]s, including [[English language|English]], a distinction between '''hard and soft {{angle bracket|c}}''' occurs in which {{angle bracket|c}} represents two distinct [[phoneme]]s. The sound of a hard {{angle bracket|c}} often precedes the non-front vowels {{angle bracket|a}}, {{angle bracket|o}} and {{angle bracket|u}}, and is that of the [[voiceless velar stop]], {{IPA|/k/}} (as in ''car''). The sound of a soft {{angle bracket|c}}, typically before {{angle bracket|e}}, {{angle bracket|i}} and {{angle bracket|y}}, may be a [[Fricative consonant|fricative]] or [[affricate consonant|affricate]], depending on the language. In English (and not coincidentally also French), the sound of soft {{angle bracket|c}} is {{IPA|/s/}} (as in the first and last ⟨c⟩s in "<u>c</u>ircumferen<u>c</u>e").

There was no soft {{angle bracket|c}} in [[classical Latin]], where it was always pronounced as {{IPA|/k/}}.<ref>{{cite web|last=Covington|first=Michael|date=March 31, 2010|title=Latin Pronunciation Demystified|url=http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/mc/latinpro.pdf|website=www.covingtoninnovations.com}}</ref>

==History==
This [[alternation (linguistics)|alternation]] is caused by a historical [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]] of {{IPA|/k/}} which took place in [[Late Latin]], and led to a change in the pronunciation of the sound {{IPA|[k]}} before the [[front vowel]]s {{IPA|[e]}} and {{IPA|[i]}}.<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=38">{{Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=38}}</ref><ref name="Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=261">{{Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=261}}</ref> Later, other languages not directly [[Daughter language|descended]] from Latin, such as English, inherited this feature as an [[Orthography|orthographic]] [[Convention (norm)|convention]].

==English==

===General overview===
In [[English orthography]], the pronunciation of hard {{angle bracket|c}} is {{IPA|/k/}} and of soft {{angle bracket|c}} is generally {{IPA|/s/}}. [[English consonant cluster reductions#Yod-coalescence|Yod-coalescence]] has altered instances of {{IPA|/sj/}} ─ particularly in unstressed syllables ─ to {{IPA|/ʃ/}} in most varieties of English, affecting words such as ''ocean'', ''logician'' and ''magician''. Generally, the soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation occurs before {{angle bracket|i e y}}; it also occurs before {{angle bracket|ae}} and {{angle bracket|oe}} in a number of [[Greek language|Greek]] and Latin loanwords (such as ''[[coelacanth]]'', ''[[caecum]]'', ''[[caesar (title)|caesar]]''). The hard {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation occurs everywhere else<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=266}}</ref> except in the letter combinations {{angle bracket|sc}}, {{angle bracket|ch}}, and {{angle bracket|sch}} which have distinct pronunciation rules. {{angle bracket|cc}} generally represents {{IPA|/ks/}} before {{angle bracket|i e y}}, as in ''accident'', ''succeed'', and ''coccyx''.

There are exceptions to the general rules of hard and soft {{angle bracket|c}}:
* The {{angle bracket|c}} in the words ''Celt'' and ''Celtic'' was traditionally soft, but since the late 19th century, the hard pronunciation has also been recognized in conscious imitation of the [[classical Latin]] pronunciation of ''Celtae;'' see [[Pronunciation of Celtic]]. Welsh and Gaelic loanwords in English which retain their native spelling, such as ''ceilidh'', ''cistvaen'' (alternatively spelled {{angle bracket|kistvaen}}) or ''Cymric'', are also pronounced hard. The Irish and Welsh languages have no letter K, so all Cs are pronounced hard.
* The {{angle bracket|c}} is hard in a handful of words like ''[[wikt:arc|arc]]ing'', ''[[wikt:sync|sync]]ed''/''[[wikt:sync|sync]]ing'', ''[[wikt:chic|chicer]]'' ({{IPA|/ʃiːkər/}}), and ''[[Quebec]]er'' (alternatively spelled {{angle bracket|Quebecker}}) that involve a word normally spelled with a final {{angle bracket|c}} followed by an affix starting with {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}}; ''[[Football (soccer)|soccer]]'' and ''[[wikt:recce|recce]]'' also have a hard {{angle bracket|c}}.
* The {{angle bracket|sc}} in ''[[Skepticism|sceptic]]'', and its [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivatives]] such as ''sceptical'' and ''scepticism'', represents {{IPA|/sk/}}. These words are alternative spellings to {{angle bracket|skeptical}} and {{angle bracket|skepticism}}, respectively.
* The {{angle bracket|cc}} of ''[[wikt:flaccid|flaccid]]'' now sometimes represents a single soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation {{IPA|/ˈflæsɪd/}}, which is a simplification of {{IPA|/ˈflæksɪd/}}.
* The {{angle bracket|c}} is [[Silent letter|silent]] before {{angle bracket|t}} in ''[[wikt:indict|indict]]'' and its derivatives such as ''indictment'', in the name of the [[U.S. state]] ''[[Connecticut]]'', and in some pronunciations of ''[[Arctic]]'' and ''[[Antarctic]]''.
* In a few cases such as [[facade]] and [[limacon]], a soft {{angle bracket|c}} appears before {{angle bracket|a o u}} and is optionally indicated to be soft by means of attaching a [[cedilla]] to its bottom, giving ''façade'', ''limaçon''.
* The second {{angle bracket|c}} in ''supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'' (a humorous invented word from the eponymous [[Mary Poppins (film)|''Mary Poppins'']] [[Mary Poppins: Original Cast Soundtrack|soundtrack]] [[Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious|song]]) is pronounced as a hard {{angle bracket|c}}, separately from the following vowel on the syllable represented by {{angle bracket|ex}}, as it is an assemblage of parts from existing words, here the suffix ''-istic''.

<!-- this list is not exhaustive. Other examples occur below -->
A [[silent E|silent {{angle bracket|e}}]] can occur after {{angle bracket|c}} at the end of a word or component [[Root (linguistics)|root word]] part of a larger word. The {{angle bracket|e}} can serve a [[English orthography#Marking sound changes in other letters|marking function]] indicating that the preceding {{angle bracket|c}} is soft, as in ''dance'' and ''enhancement''. The silent {{angle bracket|e}} often additionally indicates that the vowel before {{angle bracket|c}} is a [[long vowel]], as in ''rice'', ''mace'', and ''pacesetter''.

When adding suffixes with {{angle bracket|i e y}} (such as ''-ed'', ''-ing'', ''-er'', ''-est'', ''-ism'', ''-ist'', ''-y'', and ''-ie'') to root words ending in {{angle bracket|ce}}, the final {{angle bracket|e}} of the root word is often dropped and the root word retains the soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation as in ''danced'', ''dancing'', and ''dancer'' from ''dance''. The suffixes ''-ify'' and [[American and British English spelling differences#Greek spellings|''-ise/-ize'']] can be added to most nouns and adjectives to form new verbs. The pronunciation of {{angle bracket|c}} in newly coined words using these suffixes is not always clear. The digraph {{angle bracket|ck}} may be used to retain the hard {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation in inflections and derivatives of a word such as ''trafficking'' from the verb ''traffic''.

There are several cases in English in which hard and soft {{angle bracket|c}} alternate with the addition of suffixes as in ''critic''/''criticism'' and ''electric''/''electricity'' (''electrician'' has a soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation of {{IPA|/ʃ/}} because of [[English consonant cluster reductions#Yod-coalescence|''yod''-coalescence]]).

===Letter combinations===
A number of two-letter combinations or [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] follow distinct pronunciation patterns and do not follow the hard/soft distinction of {{angle bracket|c}}. For example, {{angle bracket|[[Ch (digraph)|ch]]}} may represent {{IPA|/tʃ/}} (as in ''chicken''), {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (as in ''chef''), or {{IPA|/k/|}} (as in ''choir''). Other letter combinations that don't follow the paradigm include {{angle bracket|cz}}, {{angle bracket|sc}}, {{angle bracket|cs}}, {{angle bracket|tch}}, {{angle bracket|sch}}, and {{angle bracket|tsch}}. These come primarily from loanwords.

Besides a few examples (''recce'', ''soccer'', ''[[Speccy]]''), {{angle bracket|cc}} fits neatly with the regular rules of {{angle bracket|c}}: Before {{angle bracket|i e y}}, the second {{angle bracket|c}} is soft while the first is hard. Words such as ''accept'' and ''success'' are pronounced with {{IPA|/ks/}} and words such as ''succumb'' and ''accommodate'' are pronounced with {{IPA|/k/}}. Exceptions include loanwords from [[Italian language|Italian]] such as ''cappuccino'' with {{IPA|/tʃ/}} for {{angle bracket|cc}}.

Many placenames and other proper nouns with -''cester'' (from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''ceaster'', meaning [[Castra|Roman station]] or [[Defensive wall|walled town]]) are pronounced with {{IPA|/stər/}}<!--this /r/ is present even in r-dropping dialects--> such as ''[[Worcester, England|Worcester]]'' ({{IPA|/ˈwʊstər/}}), ''[[Gloucester]]'' ({{IPA|/ˈɡlɒstər/}} or {{IPA|/ˈɡlɔːstər/}}), and ''[[Leicester]]'' ({{IPA|/ˈlɛstər/}}). The {{IPA|/s/}} pronunciation occurs as a combination of a historically soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation and historical [[elision]] of the first vowel of the suffix.

===Italian loanwords===
The original spellings and pronunciations of [[Italian language|Italian]] [[loanwords]] have mostly been kept. Many English words that have been borrowed from Italian follow a distinct set of pronunciation rules corresponding to those in Italian. The Italian soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation is {{IPA|/tʃ/}} (as in ''cello'' and ''ciao''), while the hard {{angle bracket|c}} is the same as in English. Italian orthography uses {{angle bracket|ch}} to indicate a hard pronunciation before {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}}, analogous to English using {{angle bracket|k}} (as in ''kill'' and ''keep'') and {{angle bracket|qu}} (as in ''mosquito'' and ''queue'').

In addition to hard and soft {{angle bracket|c}}, the digraph {{angle bracket|[[Sc (digraph)|sc]]}} represents {{IPA|/ʃ/}} or, if between vowels, {{IPA|/ʃʃ/}} when followed by {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}} (as in ''scena'' or ''sciarpa'' with {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, ''crescendo'' and ''fascia'' with {{IPA|/ʃʃ/}}). Meanwhile, {{angle bracket|[[Sch (trigraph)|sch]]}} in Italian always represents {{IPA|/sk/}}, not {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, but English-speakers commonly pronounce it as {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, perhaps in part due to familiarity with the [[German language|German]] pronunciation; thus ''bruschetta'' often is realized not with the {{IPA|/k/}} of Italian {{IPA|/brusˈketta/}}, but with {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. Italian uses {{angle bracket|cc}} to indicate the [[gemination|geminate]] {{IPA|/kk/}} before {{angle bracket|a}}, {{angle bracket|o}}, {{angle bracket|u}} or {{IPA|/ttʃ/}} before {{angle bracket|e}} or {{angle bracket|i}}. English does not have geminate phonemes, thus loanwords with soft {{angle bracket|cc}} that are pronounced with {{IPA|/ttʃ/}} in Italian, such as ''cappuccino'', are normally pronounced in English with the geminate simplified: {{IPA|/ˌkæpəˈtʃinoʊ/}}.

===Suffixation issues===
Rarely, the use of unusual suffixed forms to create [[neologism]]s occurs. For example, the words ''ace'' and ''race'' are both standard words but adding ''-ate'' or ''-age'' (both productive affixes in English) would create spellings that seem to indicate hard {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciations. ({{Not a typo|''acate''}} and ''racage''){{Citation needed|date=January 2023|reason=acate and racage are not words in English, and they would be formed as "aceate" and "raceage" if anything}}. Potential remedies include altering the spelling to {{Not a typo|''asate''}} and ''rasage'', though no standard conventions exist.

===Replacement with {{angle bracket|k}}===
{{See also|Satiric misspelling#K replacing c}}
Sometimes {{angle bracket|k}} replaces {{angle bracket|c}}, {{angle bracket|ck}}, or {{angle bracket|qu}}, as a [[trope (linguistics)|trope]] for giving words a hard-edged or whimsical feel,{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} in addition to enabling the copyright of commercial names. Examples include the ''[[Mortal Kombat (series)|Mortal Kombat]]'' franchise and product names such as [[Kool-Aid]] and [[Nesquik]]. More intensely, this use of {{angle bracket|k}} has also been used to give extremist or racist connotations. Examples include ''[[wikt:Amerika|Amerika]]'' or ''[[wikt:Amerikkka|Amerikkka]]'' (where the {{angle bracket|k}} is reminiscent of [[German language|German]] and the totalitarian [[Nazi]] regime and the racist [[Ku Klux Klan]], respectively).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of AMERIKA|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Amerika|access-date=2020-07-26|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Amerika {{!}} Definition of Amerika by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Amerika|url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amerika|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726050438/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amerika|archive-date=July 26, 2020|access-date=2020-07-26|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en}}</ref>

==Other languages==
Most modern [[Romance languages]] make the hard/soft distinction with {{angle bracket|c}},<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=38"/> except a few that have undergone spelling reforms such as [[Ladino language|Ladino]] and archaic variants like [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]. Some non-Romance languages like [[German language|German]], [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] use {{angle bracket|c}} in loanwords and also make this distinction.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Venezky|1970|p=260}}</ref> The soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciation, which occurs before {{angle bracket|i}}, {{angle bracket|e}} and {{angle bracket|y}},<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=37}}</ref> is: 
#{{IPA|/tʃ/}} in [[Italian language|Italian]],<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Hall|1944|p=82">{{Harvcoltxt|Hall|1944|p=82}}</ref> [[Romanian language|Romanian]], and [[Old English]];
#{{IPA|/s/}} in [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]],<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=261"/> [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]],<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvcoltxt|Mateus|d'Andrade|2000|p=7}}</ref> [[Catalan language|Catalan]],<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|1979|p=7">{{Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|1979|p=7}}</ref> [[Latin American Spanish]],<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=261"/> and in words loaned into Dutch and the [[Scandinavian languages]];
#{{IPA|/θ/}} in [[Peninsular Spanish|European]] and [[Equatoguinean Spanish]];<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Emerson|1997|p=261"/>
#{{IPA|/ts/}} in words loaned into German. This is one of the more archaic pronunciations, and was also the pronunciation in [[Old Spanish language|Old Spanish]], [[Old French language|Old French]] and other historical languages where it is now pronounced {{IPA|/s/}}. Most languages in eastern and central Europe came to use {{angle bracket|c}} ''only'' for {{IPA|/ts/}}, and {{angle bracket|k}} ''only'' for {{IPA|/k/}} (this would include those [[Slavic language]]s that use Latin script, [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Albanian language|Albanian]], and the [[Baltic languages]]).
The hard {{angle bracket|c}} occurs in all other positions and represents {{IPA|/k/}} in all these aforementioned languages, including in the case of ⟨c⟩ that comes before the Romanian letter î, which is different from i.

In Italian<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Hall|1944|p=82" /> and Romanian,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Venezky|1970|p=261}}</ref> the orthographic convention for representing {{IPA|/k/}} before front vowels is to add {{angle bracket|h}} (Italian ''chiaro'', {{IPA|it|ˈkjaːro|}} 'clear'). {{angle bracket|qu}} is used to accomplish the same purpose in Catalan,<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|1979|p=7"/> Portuguese,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Spanish,<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=38"/> and French. Rarely, the use of unusual suffixed forms to create [[neologism]]s occurs. For example, the words ''saco'' and ''taco'' are both standard words but adding ''-es'' or ''-ez'' (both productive affixes in Spanish) would create spellings that seem to indicate soft {{angle bracket|c}} pronunciations. ({{Not a typo|''saces''}} and ''tacez''). Potential remedies include altering the spelling to {{Not a typo|''saques''}} and ''taquez'', though no standard conventions exist.
In French,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Tranel|1987|p=12}}</ref> Catalan,<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Wheeler|1979|p=7"/> Portuguese,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and [[Old Spanish language|Old Spanish]] a [[cedilla]] is used to indicate a soft {{IPA|/s/}} pronunciation when it would otherwise seem to be hard. (French ''garçon'' {{IPA|fr|ɡaʁsɔ̃|}}, 'boy'; Portuguese ''coração'' {{IPA|pt|kuɾɐˈsɐ̃w|}}, 'heart'; Catalan ''caçar'' {{IPA|ca|kəˈsa|}}, 'to hunt'). Spanish is similar, though {{angle bracket|z}} is used instead of {{angle bracket|ç}} (e.g. ''corazón'' {{IPA|es|koɾaˈθon|}}, 'heart').<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Arnaud|1945|p=38"/> However, this is essentially equivalent because despite common misconception the symbol {{angbr|[[Cedilla|Ç]]}} is actually derived from a [[Visigothic script|Visigothic]] [[:File:Visigothic_Z-C_cedille.svg|Z]].

In the [[Irish orthography|orthographies of Irish]] and [[Scottish Gaelic orthography|Scottish Gaelic]], most consonants including {{angle bracket|c}} have a "broad" ([[Velarization|velarized]]) vs "slender" distinction ([[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]]) for many of its other consonants generally based on whether the nearest vowel is {{Angle bracket|a o u}} or {{Angle bracket|i e}}, respectively. In Irish, ⟨c⟩ usually represents a hard {{IPA|/k/}}, but represents {{IPA|/c/}} before e or i, or after i. In Scottish Gaelic, broad {{Angle bracket|c}} is one of /kʰ ʰk ʰk k/, and slender {{Angle bracket|c}} is one of /kʰʲ ʰkʲ ʰkʲ kʲ/, depending on the phonetic environment.

A number of orthographies do not make a hard/soft distinction. The {{angle bracket|c}} is always hard in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] but is always soft in [[Slavic languages]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], and in [[Hanyu Pinyin]] transcription system of [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]], where it represents {{IPA|/tsʰ/}} and in [[Indonesian Language|Indonesian]] and many of the transcriptions of the [[languages of India]] such as [[Sanskrit]] and [[Hindi]], where it always represents {{IPA|/tʃ/}}. See also [[C#Other languages|C ''§'' Other languages]].

[[Swedish language|Swedish]] has a similar phenomenon with '''hard and soft {{angle bracket|k}}''': this results from a similar historical palatalization development. Soft {{angle bracket|k}} is typically a [[voiceless palatal fricative|palatal]] {{IPA|[ç]}} or an [[Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative|alveolo-palatal]] {{IPA|[ɕ]}}, and occurs before not only  {{angle bracket|i}}, {{angle bracket|e}} and {{angle bracket|y}}, but also {{angle bracket|j}}, {{angle bracket|[[ä]]}}, and {{angle bracket|[[ö]]}}. Another similar system with '''hard and soft {{angle bracket|k}}''' is found in [[Faroese language|Faroese]] with the hard {{angle bracket|k}} being {{IPA|/kʰ/}} and the soft being {{IPA|/t͡ʃʰ/}}, and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] where the soft {{angle bracket|k}} is {{IPA|/c/}}.

The [[Vietnamese alphabet]], while based on European orthographies, does not have a hard or a soft {{angle bracket|c}} per se. The letter {{angle bracket|c}}, outside of the digraph {{Angle bracket|ch}}, always represents a hard /k/ sound. However, it never occurs in "soft positions", i.e. before {{angle bracket|i y e ê}}, where {{angle bracket|k}} is used instead, while {{angle bracket|k}} never occurs elsewhere except in the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angle bracket|kh}} and a few [[loanword]]s. The names of the letters "c" and "k" are borrowed from Europe and those letters don't even occur in their own letter names (C: ''xê'' and K: ''ca''.) [[Hồ Chí Minh]] had proposed a simplified spelling, as shown in the title of one of his books, 'Đường kách mệnh'.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Old Bohemian had hard c, but it was pronounced [x], as in ''Schecowitz'', ''Tocowitz'', and ''Crudim''{{what|date=July 2022}}.

== See also ==
*[[C]]
*[[English orthography]]
*[[I before E except after C]]
*[[Hard and soft G]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{citation
|doi=10.2307/318102
|last=Arnaud
|first=Leonard E.
|year=1945
|title=Teaching the Pronunciation of "C" and "G" and the Spanish Diphthongs
|journal=The Modern Language Journal
|volume=29
|issue=1
|pages=37–39
|jstor=318102
}}
*{{citation
|doi=10.2307/455654
|last=Emerson
|first=Ralph H.
|year=1997
|title=English Spelling and Its Relation to Sound
|journal=American Speech
|volume=72
|issue=3
|pages=260–288
|jstor=455654
}}
*{{citation
|doi=10.2307/475860
|last=Hall
|first=Robert Jr.
|year=1944
|title=Italian Phonemes and Orthography
|journal=Italica
|volume=21
|issue=2
|pages=72–82
|jstor=475860
}}
* {{Citation
|last=Mateus
|first=Maria Helena 
|last2=d'Andrade
|first2=Ernesto 
|year= 2000
|title=The Phonology of Portuguese
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|isbn=0-19-823581-X
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Tranel
|first=Bernard
|year=1987
|title=The sounds of French 
|publisher=Cambridge university press
}}
*{{citation
|last=Venezky
|first=Richard L.
|year=1970
|title=Principles for the Design of Practical Writing Systems 
|journal=Anthropological Linguistics
|volume=12
|issue=7
|pages=256–270
}}
*{{Citation
|last=Wheeler
|first=Max W
|year=1979
|title=Phonology Of Catalan
|place=Oxford
|publisher=Blackwell
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:C - Hard And Soft}}
[[Category:Consonants]]
[[Category:Spelling]]
[[Category:English orthography]]