sceptic pronounced with a 'k' sound? why?

Question

as far as i know, an 'e' or 'i' following a 'c' produces the 's' sound. yet the word 'sceptic' (1. [n] someone who habitually doubts accepted beliefs.) is pronounced like 'skeptic'.

this should not to be confused with the word 'septic' (1. [a] containing or resulting from disease-causing organisms; "a septic sore throat"; "a septic environment"; "septic sewage". 2. [a] of or relating to or caused by putrefaction; "the septic action occurs at the bottom of the septic tank)

can anyone please explain the reason why the exception for the normal rule of the 'ce/ci' as an 's' sound?

okay, apparently some people don't believe me. yes there is a skeptic... the definition for that word is similar yet DIFFERENT from sceptic.

http://www.answers.com/topic/sceptic-1
http://www.answers.com/topic/scirrhus

i was talking to a friend of mine and he pronounced the word 'scion' with a 'k' sound. my argument was that a 'ci' or 'ce' always produced an 's' sound. he was adamant that it also produced a 'k' sound. he went through a lot of trouble to prove it right... but i started to wonder... what was the rule/exception that allowed it? THAT is what i'd like to know.

skeptic
1. One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with ASSERTIONS or GENERALLY ACCEPTED CONCLUSIONS.

2. One inclined to skepticism in religious matters.

sceptic
1. someone who habitually doubts ACCEPTED BELIEFS

as you can see they are Synonyms and very similar... yet they are also DIFFERENT meanings.

Answer 1

First, "sceptic" is NOT just a synonym of "skeptic"; they are alternate spellings of the SAME word. The differences you are seeing in definition are simply because a different person wrote the definitions. In fact, compare definitions of practically ANY English word is two separate dictionaries and you will get slightly different definitions... but the substance will be the same.

Explanation of the spelling variation and pronunciation issue:

The "sk" pronunciation is the ORIGINAL one (from the original Greek word) and has long been the only acceptable one in English.

But why the "sc" spelling?

This word was first brought into English through FRENCH, which (like the Latin form before it) spelled it "sc". This "c" in Latin was pronounced with the "hard" sound (like "k"), and represented the hard-k sound of a kappa in the origina Greek words Latin was borrowing.

Now the French pronuciation of "sc" is simply the s-sound, and that same prononciation has usually been adopted by the English borrowings as well. BUT in this case, scholars went back to the original Greek word and adopted the earlier pronunciation (of both Latin and Greek). Some wanted, on this basis, to ALSO change the spelling (Samuel Johnson listed it as "skeptic" in his dictionary), but British spelling in such matters has tended more to hold on to their traditional spellings, and they kept the French form, even though the English pronunciation was now /sk/. Americans, on the other hand, tended to adopt the sort of spelling reforms and simplifications that had been suggested. (Note -- MOST of the "American" spellings were advocated by many British scholars BEFORE Noah Webster successfully promoted them in America.)


Note that this sort of updating/correcting of prononciation by scholars most often did NOT take place, so that other words going back to Greek /sk-/ have kept the French spelling (sc) AND pronunciation. Examples: scene, sceptre/scepter.

(Words beginnings with "sch" are a whole category of their own, and suffer some of the same complications of being borrowed from Greek into English at different times and through different routes. Many--not all-- go back to Greek sigma + chi (the letter that looks like "X" that represents a sound like the "ch" in Scottish "loch", is found in "Christ", etc.), so the pronunciation "sk" is reasonably close to the root-word (considering that English does not really HAVE the sort of "ch" sound of "loch" or German "ich").

Answer 2

I think that it is to distinguish the word from septic. It could just be that someone mispronounced the word to distinguish it or by accident and others followed suit until it became the correct pronunciation. English has a plethora of exceptions though, so I wouldn't think to hard about it.

Answer 3

1587, "member of an ancient Gk. school that doubted the possibility of real knowledge," from Fr. sceptique, from L. scepticus, from Gk. skeptikos (pl. Skeptikoi "the Skeptics"), lit. "inquiring, reflective," the name taken by the disciples of the Gk. philosopher Pyrrho (c.360-c.270 B.C.E.), from skeptesthai "to reflect, look, view" (see scope (1)). The extended sense of "one with a doubting attitude" first recorded 1615. The sk- spelling is an early 17c. Gk. revival and is preferred in U.S.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=skeptic

Answer 4

Well ... according to my Oxford pocket dictionary, skeptic is the US spelling - which explains why my British English spell checker just highlighted it!!! Sceptic is - supposedly - the UK spelling, and my spell checker likes it..!
; )
Strange that Answers.com has a different description for each of them though...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sceptic
says they mean the same ...

Anyway, I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about the pronunciation, and it doesn't matter whether they are derived from Latin or Greek words either ...
With the S sound;
Scene (etc.) (from Greek, via Latin)
Scent (Latin)
sceptre (from Greek, via Latin)
science (Latin)
scintillating (Latin)
scissors (Latin)

With the SK sound
sceptic (from Greek, via Latin)
Maybe it just didn't have time to be 'Latinised' before WE got hold of it??
; )

I can't find any other examples of SK though - all the other SK words begin 'scH'!

Answer 5

In America we spell it skeptic, wo we don't have to worry about this issue. Sceptic is the British spelling. The English language is full of exceptions to every rule.

Answer 6

It is spelled skeptic.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skeptic

Answer 7

I'm skeptical of your spelling.

Answer 8

Please put an end to your SKEPTICISM by replacing the second letter "C" with "K" just after S in the word "SKEPTIC" that you are SKEPTICAL about ok.

Answer 9

someone got a dictionary for their birthday?