In words with 'ce' and 'ci' is the letter 'c' always pronounced as if it were an 's'?

Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > Literature & Language > English Language > Grammar > In words with 'ce' and 'ci' is the letter 'c' always pronounced as if it were an 's'?
Answer:
It is USUALLY pronounced as an s, but not always. There's the -cious words, where it has the sound 'sh':

delicious
precious
specious
meretricious
etc.
(not to mention 'licorice')

Similarly, there the 'sh' sound for -cial words like facial and special.

Also there are words that have been adopted from other languages but kept a trace of their original pronunciation: Celtic, for example.

There are some other pronuniciations for ce, such as cello (pronounced 'chello'), cembalo (chembalo, with a 'k' sound).

In the words foci and loci (acceptable plurals of focus and locus) the c is pronounced like a 'k'.

The letter 'c' also makes the 'k' sound in the word 'arcing.'

First answer by Gilr. Last edit by Gilr. Contributor trust: 975 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 3 [recommend question].

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