CHAPTER 20

Using k, ck, ic, ac

To the student of English there must be times when the letters c and k appear to be interchangeable.

Obviously they are not but we can not deny that there is some confusion. The Anglo-Saxons used the c
when they needed a hard k sound and the s when they wanted a soft s sound, but the Normans introduced
the k, which was soon followed by a flood of Latin and Greek words which often use the c when a hard k
is called for. Add to this many hundreds of other imported words, and we have quite a mess. Over the
years, however, spelling rules have emerged that serve to bring some order to the confusion.

(^) And in North America, cheque is spelled check, despite the fact that the American Express Company
sells traveler’s cheques.
Spelling rule #1: The ck is used immediately after a short vowel. Usually these are single-syllable
words, but this group may include multi-syllable words when the syllable is closed or a suffix is
added:
(^) Note that no commonly used English words begin with ck.
Spelling rule #2: The k is used at the end of long vowel words and words that have a consonant after
the vowel. This includes words that need a silent e:
(^) Spelling rule #3: Many words that derive from Latin or Greek use a c for the k sound after a
short vowel, especially words that end in ic or ac. They are almost always multisyllable word.
(^) Note that the anomalies are arc and zinc:
(^) Fewer than fifty words end in ac. About half of them are descriptive nouns:
(^) Only a tiny handful of words end in oc:
(^) Note that the words flack and flak are not the same. The first refers to publicity, whereas the second is
an acronym from the German words Fleiger abwehr kanonen, or antiaircraft fire.
Visitors to Britain will find that curb is spelled kerb. Both words follow the spelling rules; both are
therefore correct. Just to add to the confusion, in the last few decades many exotic new words using the k
have been adopted and adapted into English.