topic Re: Alphabet Question in Community Chat

Alphabet Question

occasionalrain — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:06:58 GMT

Why do we have both a C and a K? They're interchangeable and the only way of knowing which to use is from past experience, trial and error.

Re: Alphabet Question

fthunt — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:08:44 GMT

Time for some fresh air...............

Re: Alphabet Question

Shanus — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:20:39 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
Why do we have both a C and a K? They're interchangeable and the only way of knowing which to use is from past experience, trial and error.

@occasionalrain A "K" usually only has a hard sound as in kangaroo. The "C" however, can have the hard sound as in card or the soft sound as in brace.

Re: Alphabet Question

KingstonsMom — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:21:46 GMT

Sorry, I'm lost on this one....

Re: Alphabet Question

Shanus — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:31:04 GMT

@fthunt Harsh.

Re: Alphabet Question

Foxxee — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 06:49:44 GMT

A C isn't always interchangeable with a K. We have soft C's that sound like an S. We also have silent K's.

I have a lot of questions about the English language, too; however, we learned how to spell words, so we should know when to use a C or K.

There are rules for when to use them, however, there are exceptions to the rules. Oh boy!

A C is sometimes pronounced like an S as in "celebrate". Look at "circle." A soft and hard C. We could spell it sirkle. Do we need that silent E on the end. How about sirkl? But, guess what? There are rules for silent E's at the end of words, too.

English is a Germanic language, but over 60% of the words are based on Latin. "Circle" in Latin is "circulus."

A K is silent as in "know," but if we dropped the K, it would be "now" and that is a word with a different meaning. Same with spelling it the same as it is pronounced..."no." Once again that is another word with a different meaning.

Yes, we could spell caterpillar and cat with a K.

The Germanic word for (domestic) "cat" is generally thought to be from Latin cattus. So, we can see where some of our spelling originated and why a K is not used for cat. Blame it on the Romans.

There are many other exceptions and posters will give examples, but that just demonstrates how unpredictable the English language is at times.

Re: Alphabet Question

QVCkitty1 — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:36:14 GMT

@fthunt wrote:
Time for some fresh air...............

Sometimes an intelligent discussion is better than a snarky reply. And anyway you can still be curious in the fresh air .

Re: Alphabet Question

Mz iMac — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:36:57 GMT

"only way of knowing which to use is from past experience, trial and error."

cnowing--------> **Error alarm**

Re: Alphabet Question

Desertdi — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:41:37 GMT

Q also has that sound (mostly in foreign words: like Qatar)

Re: Alphabet Question

KingstonsMom — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 18:43:40 GMT

@QVCkitty1 wrote:
@fthunt wrote:
Time for some fresh air...............
Sometimes an intelligent discussion is better than a snarky reply. And anyway you can still be curious in the fresh air .

Most times an intelligent discussion occurs when readers understand what your post/discussion is about.

Re: Alphabet Question

Zaimee — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 19:29:26 GMT

@occasionalrain @Said thousands of times over my 44 years of teaching,

"English is very tricky."

Re: Alphabet Question

Beth-QVC — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 19:31:46 GMT

argumentative

Re: Alphabet Question

CAcableGirl2 — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 19:34:54 GMT

@occasionalrain not always the same, like chunky...would be ka-hunky if it has a K.

Interesting discussion and I imagine it would be very confusing for those who are learning English as a second language.

Re: Alphabet Question

Porcelain — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 20:15:48 GMT

From Spellzone dot com.

Spelling the /k/ sound before a vowel: is it c or k?

Why is it c in cat ... but k in kitten?

The most common spelling choice for the /k/ sound is the letter c but sometimes we need to use k.

There are some spelling rules to help with the correct choice for the /k/ sound:

1. If the next vowel is a, o or u, we usually use c. For example:

call, carrot, copy, colour (US - color) cup, cucumber

2. If the next vowel is e or i, we usually use k. For example:

kill, kitchen, keep, kettle

There is a good reason for this rule: When c is followed by e or i, it will make the soft sound /s/ as in cent and circle.

So, if you want the hard sound /ke/ or /ki/, you must use k.

3. If the next letter is a consonant e.g. r or l , we nearly always use c. For example: crab, cricket, close, clap

I just learned something! Very interesting.

Re: Alphabet Question

NickNack — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 20:21:44 GMT

@Porcelain wrote:
From Spellzone dot com.

Spelling the /k/ sound before a vowel: is it c or k?

Why is it c in cat ... but k in kitten?
The most common spelling choice for the /k/ sound is the letter c but sometimes we need to use k.

There are some spelling rules to help with the correct choice for the /k/ sound:

1. If the next vowel is a, o or u, we usually use c. For example:
call, carrot, copy, colour (US - color) cup, cucumber

2. If the next vowel is e or i, we usually use k. For example:
kill, kitchen, keep, kettle

There is a good reason for this rule: When c is followed by e or i, it will make the soft sound /s/ as in cent and circle.

So, if you want the hard sound /ke/ or /ki/, you must use k.

3. If the next letter is a consonant e.g. r or l , we nearly always use c. For example: crab, cricket, close, clap

I just learned something! Very interesting.

I had completely forgotten those rules @Porcelain, although I don't have a problem with how to use the letters. I remember learning that in school.

Re: Alphabet Question

SilleeMee — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 21:12:16 GMT

I think it's interesting to note that the letter C came from the letter K a long time ago. There was a conversion from Greek to Latin somewhere along the line and the letter C was born out of that.

Re: Alphabet Question

Beth-QVC — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 21:23:42 GMT

This post has been removed by QVC because it is off topic

Re: Alphabet Question

sunshine45 — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 03:29:46 GMT

so who knows why we use them together if the sound is the same?

tackle.....pick......tack.......pickle.....packer?

Re: Alphabet Question

hennypenny — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 04:01:57 GMT

A great question. Love learning something new!

Re: Alphabet Question

faeriemoon — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 12:42:03 GMT

They're not interchangeable.