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| == '''Letter C''' ==
| | {{:{{FeaturedArticleTitle}}}} |
| ''by [[User:Ro Thorpe|Ro Thorpe]]''
| | <small> |
| ----
| | ==Footnotes== |
| '''[[C (letter)|C, c]]''' is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the third letter of most variants, being placed after B and before D, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈsiː], like ''see'' and ''sea'', and is occasionally spelt out as ''cee''.
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| | | </small> |
| C is also the Roman numeral representing the number 100.
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| ===Use in English===
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| Though very common in English, '''c''' has (as in French, Portuguese, Catalan and many varieties of Spanish) no sound of its own. It is either in the back of the throat, exactly like '''k''' ('''kíng''') and '''q''' ('''quêen''') or it is a hiss, like the most common sound of '''s''' ('''sô''', '''híss'''). (The accents show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings.)
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| '''c''' is actually more common than '''k''' - and much more than '''q''' - for the throaty sound. It occurs before back vowels '''a''', '''o''' and '''u''': '''cát, còme, còunt, cûre, côast''', and liquid consonants '''l''' and '''r''': '''clíck, crúst, clàss'''. In '''crícket, thícket, rácket, wícker, bícker, lócker, dócker, crácker, brácken, bráckish, lácking''', the '''k''' is needed to show the throaty sound of the second '''c''': without the '''k''', the '''c''' would sound like an 's' because of the following '''e''' or '''i'''. Also, -'''ck''' is more common at the end of words as in '''déck''' and '''clóck'''. But after '''í''', '''c''' is quite common finally: '''plástic, pánic, eléctric, frenétic, mûsic'''. Compare '''síc''' ''thus'' with '''síck''' ''ill''. Also: '''mâniác, lîlac, ålmanác, blóc'''. By contrast, words do not end -ec or -uc.
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| The hissing '''s''' sound occurs before front vowel letters '''i, e''' and '''y''': '''cïrcle, céntre, cŷcle, cínema, nîce, Lâcy, Trâcy, pâcy'''. For the hissing sound to remain before a back vowel, a cedilla is used in '''Bàrça''' (cf. '''Barcelôna''', where no cedilla is needed), '''curaçào, soûpçon, façàde''' and '''Provençàl''' (*Próvón-sàl).
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| The famous rule "'''i''' before '''e''' except after '''c'''" applies only to the '''ê''' sound (and not to '''èi''' as in '''vèin'''): '''cêiling, decêit, recêive, recêipt''' (-êet). And then, not only after '''c''', as it happens: '''sêize, wêir, wêird, Nêil, Kêith''' and '''Shêila'''. Compare '''vèil, vèin, fèint''' ''pretend'' (= '''fâint''' ''swoon''), '''dèign''' ''condescend'' (= '''Dâne''' ''Denmark''), '''rèign''' ''queen'' (= '''râin''' ''wet''), and also '''théir''' ''they'' (= '''thére''' ''here'').
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| Quite often, especially at the beginning of a word, '''sc''' is used for the hissing sound before front vowels: '''scêne, scéptic, scîence, scént, scíssors, scîon, scintílla, scímitar, scŷthe, sciática''' (*sŷáttica).
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| In the suffix -'''ésce''': '''acquiésce, effervésce''', and pronounced '''z''' in '''créscent''' (*crézzənt).
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| An exceptional '''c''' is found in '''encephalîtis''', pronounced '''k''' before '''e''' (enkéf-); otherwise '''c''' is always a hiss before '''e''', '''i''' and '''y'''.
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| There are silent '''c'''s in '''indî'''c'''t, Tû'''c'''son''' and '''Conné'''c'''ticut'''.
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| '''ch''' most typically sounds like '''t''' plus '''sh''' – not usually like '''sh''' alone. French, German and Portuguese do not have this sound, although the Germans write it in foreign words as ‘tsch’. Spanish does have it, whence '''mácho''' (*mátcho: it is sometimes mispronounced ‘macko’, as if Italian). '''ch''' is common in English, which has taken French words like '''chàrm''' ('charme' in French) and modified the sound of the French '''ch''', which has the English '''sh''' sound: '''chéck, choôse, chânge, Ríchard''' and also '''côach, bêach, chêek, chéss, chêer, cheŵ, escheŵ''' (which has a rare, separately sounded, '''s''' before it). Inside a word, there is often a superfluous '''t''' before '''ch''': '''ítch, dítch, cátch, mátch, bùtcher''' - but never after '''r''': '''tŏrch, lürch, àrch''', except in names: '''Pàrtch''' ''person'' = '''pàrch''' ''tongue''. And '''Tchaîkovsky''' has the '''T''' initially.
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| Uniquely, this sound is spelt '''Cz''', however, in '''Czéch''' ''Republic'' (= '''chéck''' ''determine'' = BrE '''chéque''' ''cash'').
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| In some words more recently taken from French, '''ch''' sounds exactly like '''sh''' in '''shê''': '''machìne, nìche, pastìche, '''BrE''' moustàche, '''AmE''' moústáche, párachute, créche, Chicàgo''' and '''nónchalant''', in which AmE French-style silences the '''t''': *nonshalàn.
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| In other words, mostly from Greek, '''ch''' is pronounced '''k''': '''chord, chémist, psŷchê, dichótomy, schême, àrchive, synécdochê, schoôner'''.
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| In various Celtic words '''ch''' can sound like the Arabic '''kh''', e.g. '''lóch, Dócherty''' - but many non-Celts simply make the '''k''' sound here. And in the variant spelling '''Dóherty''', the '''h''' sounds like itself alone - or like '''kh''' or '''k'''.
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| ''[[C (letter)|.... (read more)]]''
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Napoleon (Napoleon Bonaparte or, after 1804, Napoleon I, Emperor of the French) was a world historic figure and dictator of France from 1799 to 1814. He was the greatest general of his age--perhaps any age, with a sure command of battlefield tactics and campaign strategies, As a civil leader he played a major role in the French Revolution, then ended it when he became dictator in 1799 and Emperor of France in 1804 He modernized the French military, fiscal, political legal and religious systems. He fought an unending series of wars against Britain with a complex, ever-changing coalition of European nations on both sides. Refusing to compromise after his immense defeat in Russia in 1812, he was overwhelmed by a coalition of enemies and abdicated in 1814. In 1815 he returned from exile, took control of France, built a new army, and in 100 days almost succeeded--but was defeated at Waterloo and exiled to a remote island. His image and memory are central to French national identity, but he is despised by the British and Russians and is a controversial figure in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Rise to Power
Once the Revolution had begun, so many of the aristocratic officers turned against the Revolutionary government, or were exiled or executed, that a vacuum of senior leadership resulted. Promotions came very quickly now, and loyalty to the Revolution was as important as technical skill; Napoleon had both. His demerits were overlooked as he was twice reinstated, promoted, and allowed to collect his back pay. Paris knew him as an intellectual soldier deeply involved in politics. His first test of military genius came at Toulon in 1793, where the British had seized this key port. Napoleon, an acting Lieutenant-Colonel, used his artillery to force the British to abandon the city. He was immediately promoted by the Jacobin radicals under Robespierre to brigadier-general, joining the ranks of several brilliant young generals. He played a major role in defending Paris itself from counter-revolutionaries, and became the operational planner for the Army of Italy and planned two successful attacks in April 1794. He married Josephine (Rose de Beauharnais) in 1796, after falling violently in love with the older aristocratic widow.[1]
- ↑ Englund pp 63-73, 91-2, 97-8
