2006-06-26 23:01:06 · 9 answers · asked by nhl 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The use of "c" for the [k] sound dates back to Etruscan, which borrowed the West Greek alphabet about 1000 BCE. In West Greek, the c was used for the [g] sound, but there was no [g] sound in Etruscan so they used it for their own [k] sound. When the Romans borrowed the Etruscan alphabet for use in Latin, they used the "c" for both their [k] and [g] sounds. Later, they added a little tail to the "c" to get a letter for [g], but still used "c" for [k]. When the Anglo-Saxons borrowed the Roman alphabet for use in English, they used the "c" for their [k] sound originally.
2006-06-27 07:48:08 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because c has two sounds, the soft c and the hard c, and k has a slightly different sound than the hard c but a very different sound from the soft c.
English has these funny variations in which letters have different pronunciations probably because of America's and England's mix of cultures in which different languages such as French and Germanic were mixed and borrowed from and they formed a diverse vocabulary, with certain words that were from the Germanic languages borrowing that hard "c" sound that you're not used to.
2006-06-26 23:05:10 · answer #2 · answered by too_live_forever 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because English is a Phunny Language .
Take the following example
GH as in EnouGH
O as in wOmen
TI as in DicTIon
Therefore and alternative spelling for FISH could be GHOTI
:)
2006-06-27 02:39:27 · answer #3 · answered by JustAskMe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
'c' has been a regular part of the english alphabet far longer than 'k', so more words are spelled with 'c' than with 'k' - a relatively recent borrowing from greek.
'k' never really appeared at all in the latin alphabet. it is a modern letter and more likely to appear in modern words.
kaleidoscope, kerosene, kuk
(but 'calliope').
2006-06-26 23:27:14 · answer #4 · answered by synopsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You think that is hard. In Canada we spell neighbour, you say neighbor. We say colour, you say colour.
English may have more rules etc. But Canadians prefer to make the language even more difficult.
2006-06-26 23:05:25 · answer #5 · answered by peppermint_paddy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
History-they got it from Latin
2006-06-26 23:56:37 · answer #6 · answered by anči 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because that is the correct way of spelling it
2006-06-26 23:04:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
becouse english is a very funny lunguage.....
2006-06-26 23:04:58 · answer #8 · answered by Tango-Charli 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz k.. dats for german...
2006-06-27 02:57:42 · answer #9 · answered by switgirllikmi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋