Celtic? Pronunciation?

Question

So i like Classical Celtic music, but
is it pronounced

"SELL- TICK"
or
"KELL-TICK"
???

Answer 1

You can use either pronunciation but right now, it's more pc to say "Keltik."

It didn't use to be an issue. For example, the 1933 edition of "Funk & Wagnalls" dictionary lists both pronunciations as correct, and usually 'c' followed by a vowel in Modern English is pronounced like an 's' (e.g. centipede = sen-ti-peed) as it is in French and Spanish - a legacy of the Norman conquerors of England in 1066.

When I was in high school in the 1960's few Americans had ever heard of the Celts. Our school system taught us that all White Americans were pretty much "Anglo-Saxons." Whenever I did hear the words Celt and Celtic, I remember hearing them pronounced only as "Selt / Seltik."

Then , in the 1980's, there was a groundswell of renewed interest in traditional Irish and Scottish folk music. A group from Northern Ireland called the Chieftans and another Irish group from Donegal called "Clanad" started much of it. With it came a renewed interest in the culture and history of the Celtic peoples along with the pronunciation "Keltik."

The name actually derives from "Keltoi" a name used by Ancient Greek traders in Marsala (now Marseilles) France for the local tribes of people living near the city. Some of these tribes spoke languages related to modern Gaelic and Welsh ( the Gauls, maybe the Rhaetians) but not all of them (e.g. Aquitanians, Ligurians).

We don't know which of these peoples the Greeks were referring to when they spoke of the "Keltoi." . However, by the 18th century, scholars used "Celtic" ("celtique") to refer to any languages that were related to Ancient Gallic (or Gaulish): Breton, Cornish, Welsh, Irish Galeic and Scottish Gaelic.

Answer 2

I think it's one of those things that depends on where you come from.
But i think back in the old days it was "sell-tick".

my sister likes classical celtic music too.

Answer 3

The most correct is Kell-Tik. We have changed it in a lot of cases due to lack of knowledge to Cell-Tik which is really not correct.

Answer 4

kell-tick