Is it pronounced Kell-tic or Sell-tic (Celtic)? And why?

Answer 1

The pronunciation of the words Celt and Celtic in their various meanings has been surrounded by some confusion: the initial can be realised either as /k/ or as /s/. Both can be justified philologically and both are "correct" in terms of English prescriptive usage.

The word presumably originated in an Early Continental Celtic language, but it comes to us from Greek, where it is spelled with a kappa; thus /k/ is the original pronunciation. However in Mediaeval Latin, the letter , originally pronounced /k/, shifted to /s/, a process known as palatalization, and many words and names borrowed from Latin into English after this sound shift are pronounced this way: centre, Cicero, etcetera. Thus /s/ is the inherited pronunciation in English.

Until the mid-20th century, Celtic was usually pronounced with /s/ in English except by academics, but the pronunciation with /k/ has been gaining ground rapidly. Following the usage of philologians, /k/ is now almost invariably used with reference to Celtic languages even in non-academic contexts. It is also the more popular pronunciation when talking about most other aspects of Celtic culture. However /s/ remains the only recognised pronunciation of the word when it occurs in the names of sports teams, most notably the Glasgow Celtic Football Club and of the Boston Celtics basketball team; as these are proper names, the traditional pronunciation is entrenched.

There is a great deal of misinformation in circulation on this topic. It should be noted that there is no American-British distinction in these pronunciations nor is there a Scottish-Irish distinction. Neither pronunciation has been influenced by any modern Celtic language, nor by Old Norse. The corresponding words in French are pronounced with /s/ while those in German have /k/, but neither French nor German has influenced English usage; rather, they show independent reflexes of the same phenomena in Latin and Greek.

The stone tool, a celt, has a completely separate etymology. In English it is only pronounced /selt/.

Answer 2

The correct way is Kell-tic as said by the actual Irish, but the wrong way Sell-tic is because of the stupid way the NBA pronounces the Boston team.

Answer 3

Kell-tic

Celtic (pronounced kell-tic, unless you're a basketball fan from Boston)

The Celts were a group of people who spread over the European continent sometime around 1000-700 B.C. They probably originated someplace in Asia. They spoke a language which we now refer to as Celtic. As other groups of people moved around Europe, the Celts were pushed into the western regions of the continent (Ireland, Britain, Brittany & a region in Spain called Galicia) where they held out, intermarrying with other groups, until the present day. Because of the isolation of these regions, local dialects turned into separate languages, and the Celtic language became the Goidelic and Brythonic languages. There was another branch of Celtic languages that died out, but we won't concern ourselves with those right now!
So when someone asks for a "Celtic" name, technically that could be a name from any one of these newer languages. Or, it could mean a name that is so ancient, it was coined before the Celtic language branched off into different languages. there are a few of these names remaining. For example, names from Celtic mythology and religion are old enough to defy the classification of "Irish" "Scottish" or anything else.

Answer 4

My understanding (and I freely admit that this is from a lifetime of random trivia and not from formal scholarly research) is that it's pronounced "Kell-tic". The existence of a letter like "C" that has two totally different sounds (S and K) is fairly new, according to an ancient etymology class I took in the dark ages (i.e. High School) and if you saw this word written as it was when first coined, it wouldn't really be uncertain. It is only with modern spelling and pronounciations that we find ancient words with ambiguous spellings.

Answer 5

It is pronounced Kell tic...trust me. I'm a retired irish dancer of 10 years. It's prounced that way because there was a book in ireland called the book of kells. this was a bible that the monks drew intricate designs on. These designs can now be found on everything from irish jewelry to irish dance dresses. Hope this helps!

Answer 6

kell - tic is the proper pronunciation because it is the name of a language that used to be spoken in Ireland, many people pronounce it sell-tic because as Americans we tend to butcher words.

Answer 7

Kell-tic, because thats how my friend who has Celtic background pronounces it

Answer 8

When referring to the Boston Celtic's it's "sell-tic" when referring to the ancient celts it's "kel-tic" Why? I don't know. That's just the way they're pronounced.

Answer 9

Kell-tic (unless its the team the Celtics). I don't know why.

Answer 10

pronounced Kell-tic.... "T he name Celt originated with the ancient Greeks, who called the barbarian peoples of central Europe Keltoi. Rather that being a broad cultural genetic 'race,' the Celts were a broad cultural-linguistic group. "