Hard and Soft C

Hard And Soft C

In the Latin-based orthographies of many European languages (including English), a distinction between hard and soft ⟨c⟩ occurs in which ⟨c⟩ represents two distinct phonemes. The sound of a hard ⟨c⟩ (which often precedes the non-front vowels ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩) is always (as in car) while the sound of a soft ⟨c⟩ (typically before ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩ and ⟨y⟩), depending on language, may be a fricative or affricate. In English, the sound of soft ⟨c⟩ is /s/ (as in cent).

Read more about Hard And Soft C:  History, Other Languages

Famous quotes containing the words soft c, hard and/or soft:

    Soft men tend to be born from soft countries.
    Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)

    So you finally got wise to yourself, did you? Funny thing about you women. Most of you don’t get wise soon enough. You wait until you’re so old nobody want you.... You’re not so hard to look at. Give yourself a tumble, you’ll make the grade.
    Willis Goldbeck (1900–1979)

    Once this soft turf, this rivulet’s sands,
    Were trampled by a hurrying crowd,
    William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)