The pronunciation of "c"

[Rachel Adams]

Is the "c" pronounced as "k" only before "e/i/y"?

[GoesStation]

Is the "c" pronounced as "k" only before "e/i/y"?

No. It's the opposite.

[emsr2d2]

can/cat/carton (hard k sound)
ceiling/centimetre (sibilant s sound)
cigarette/cigar/circa (sibilant s sound)
column/cot/corn (hard k sound)
cumulus/cunning/cummerbund (hard k sound)
cycle/cyborg (sibilant s sound)

In words we've adopted from other languages, we stick with their pronunciation. For example, cello and ciao (c = ch)

[teechar]

Is the "c" pronounced as "k" "s" only when it comes before "e/i/y"?

Is that what you intended to write, Rachel?

[Rachel Adams]

Is that what you intended to write, Rachel?

Oh, yes. I accidentally typed "k".

[teechar]

Then the answer is basically, yes. There are some exceptions such as "soccer" and "muscle", but they are just that - exceptions.

[Rachel Adams]

Then the answer is basically, yes. There are some exceptions such as "soccer" and "muscle", but they are just that - exceptions.

Why is "muscle" an exception? There is an "l" before it.

[GoesStation]

Why is "muscle" an exception? There is an "l" before after it.

The rule says you should pronounce "c" as /k/ when it precedes a consonant. The "c" in muscle isn't pronounced that way.

I wouldn't say that it's pronounced as /s/; I'd say it's silent. The distinction is academic though.

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher
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Is there an important difference, either practical or theoretical, between the three below?

A) s is pronounced as /s/, and c is silent.
B) c is pronounced as /s/, and s is silent.
C) sc is pronounced as /s/, kind of like how it takes both an s and an h to make a /ʃ/.

[teechar]

They potentially apply to so few words that they're hardly worth considering as rules.