Why is Celtic pronounced both ways in English?

Why is Celtic pronounced both ways in English?

Celtic may be pronounced either way in standard English—even if this bothers some people. A lot of antagonism over language use stems from misconceptions about correctness, such as the common belief that there can be only one correct form of a word (one meaning, spelling, pronunciation, etc.), and that variants are therefore wrong.

Is Celtic pronounced sel-Tik?

Decades later, Burchfield observes a different trend: “Except for the football club Celtic (in Glasgow), which is pronounced [SEL-tik], both Celt and Celtic are pronounced with initial k in standard English.”.

How do you pronounce the name Celt?

Following its French and Latin predecessors, early pronunciation of Celt was actually \\SELT\\. (In French and Latin, the ‘c’ is pronounced \\s\\, as in the last name of the French painter Paul Cézanne and in Latin century .) The pronunciation \\KELT\\ started being heard as early as the 18th century, which,…

What does Celtic mean in Irish?

Celtic refers to Irish culture and heritage, along with the historical people who migrated from the British Isles throughout much of Europe. While the early pronunciation was with an /s/ sound, reflecting its nearest origin in French, the modern standard is a hard “c” sound like /k/.

Is there a consensus on the pronunciation of the Celtic accent?

It’s as strong a consensus as you’ll find. People speak like the people around them. They develop accents like those of their families and peers and pick up usages from friends and colleagues. This is one reason the pronunciation of Celtic varies between groups but tends to be consistent within a group.

How do you pronounce Gaelic names in English?

Firstly, it’s pronounced (in English) ‘gal-ick’. Irish Gaelic is pronounced (in English) ‘gay-lik’. The (Scottish) Gaelic name for (Scottish) Gaelic is Gàidhlig, pronounced ‘gaa-lik’, not to be confused with the Irish (Gaelic) name for Irish (Gaelic), which is written Gaeilge and pronounced ‘gail-gyuh’.

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