pronouncation rules for C as c and C as k.

[RonBee]

When a c is followed by a consonant it is pronounced as a k.

Examples: act, actor, arc, back, beckon, becloud, click, clock, deck, diction, duck, dock, doctor, ectopic, eczema, fake, fact, factory, fiction, hack, hock, huck, gecko, jack, keck, kick, lick, luck, macrame, muck, neck, pecan, octad, reckon, sect, section, sector, tactile, traction, tractile, ticket, tecture, unction, vector, wick

8)

[RonBee]

A c preceding a y is pronounced as an s.

Examples: acyl, fancy, halcyon, lacy, cyan, racy

8)

[RonBee]

Unless it is followed by an e or an i, a c following a consonant is pronounced as a k.

Examples: incur, arcon, ascot, escort,narcolepsy, oncology, encourage, uncomely

But: ascent, descent, incest, incipient, incite

8)

[RonBee]

The c in scr is pronounced as k (hard c).

Examples: ascribe, describe, inscription, script, scribble, sculpture

8)

[RonBee]

The double c. When the doubled c is followed by an e or an i the first c is pronounced as a k and the second is pronounced as an s. Otherwise, the doubled c is pronounced as a k.

Examples: access, accede, accept, occipital

Examples: accord, accumulate, occur

8)

[RonBee]

A c following an s is pronounced as a k if the following letter is an a, an o or a u. A c following an s is pronounced as an s if the following letter is an e, an i or a y.

Examples: rascal, cascara, escape, rescue, rescuer, scute, escutage, scour, discourage

Examples: ascend, descend, inscise, inscisor, scythe

8)

[ESL-lover]

Thanks RonBee.................

What about Ch as in Chair and Ch as in chemical

Thanks.................

[RonBee]

Ch is a dipthong, and it is a combination of sounds. It's pretty much the same sound whether it is at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word.

Examples: chair, chart, cheap, chip, chop, chum, bachelor, matches, teacher, each, catch, match, beach, reach, teach, itch

(I don't know how to represent the sound here.)

In some cases, ch is pronounced as k.

Examples: character, chemical, chorus, ache, achene, achiote, echo, echoic, echolocation, ochre, schedule (AE), scheme, school

8)

[Tdol]

The ch as \k\ is in words of Greek origin, which is why they tend to be n specialist areas like science and music.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by RonBee

A c between two vowels will generally be pronounced as an s.
Examples: anticipate, special, recede, decent, recent, receipt, reception.
8)

The C in 'special' is only pronounced /s/ if you're singing Bali Hai (from South Pacific) (and maybe also in Trust in me - from The Jungle Book - I forget). The first singers were foreign, and the second was a snake.

'Special' is two syllables - /'speʃəl/.

b

PS
Thanks for all the posts Ron - I'll try to piece them all together one of these days!