The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules (18 page)

Beware of anomalies:

When two
c
’s are together, the rule still applies. The first
c
will be hard and the second will be hard or soft, depending on the letter that follows it.

Considering the extremely large number of words that use the letter
c
followed by one or more of the six vowels, it is astonishing that there are so few exceptions to the hard and soft rule. Note that one interesting problem is the word
Celt
. The ancient Celts did not have the letter
k,
so the name of their tribe should be pronounced
kelt
. It is sometimes spelled that way when it is used as a noun. The adjective
celtic
should be pronounced
keltic
following the pattern of the noun. The exception is Boston’s basketball team.

C
HAPTER 15

Combinations Using
c

T
he letter
c
is one of the most interesting letters in the alphabet. It has often been denounced as a useless letter that imitates
s
or
k
. However, when we look at it more closely, we find that it is not only one of the most often used letters, but it is also used in numerous quite fascinating ways.

The Anglo-Saxons pronounced it like a
k
, but, following the Norman French invasion and the later influx of countless Greek and Latin words, along with host of other foreign words, it began to acquire the extraordinary complexity that it now has. When the
c
has the
k
sound, the word is probably Anglo-Saxon in origin. When it has the
s
sound, it is probably French or Latin and arrived during the Renaissance. Centuries of usage have, however, caused quite a tangle. The
c
rules are not absolute.

When the
c
is followed by
h
, we usually expect the digraph sound produced by
ch
:

But the
ch
may have the
sh
sound. These are mainly French words:

And sometimes the
ch
may have the
k
sound. These are often Greek words:

Note that the only word to have a double
c
before the
h
is
saccharin
.

When followed by
k
in one-syllable words with a short-vowel, the
c
becomes silent:

Note that no commonly used English words begin with ck.

When the
c
is followed by
t
, it may sometimes be silent.

When a
ci
or
ce
combination, appears, it may have the
sh
sound:

When the
ce
combination has the
ch
sound, the word is usually of Italian origin:

Note also that the
k
is rarely used before
l
or
r
, but it may be used before
le
.