Learn English – Why is the word “Cyrillic” pronounced with a soft “c”

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Why is the word "Cyrillic" pronounced with a soft "c" at the start of the word, when the pronunciation of the word in Russian and Mongolian sounds more like a hard "c"?

Best Answer

The 'c' is always soft before a 'y'.

Soft c: When “c” is followed by: e, i, y it is sounded as “s.”

The letter “c” has two sounds, hard “c” and soft "c".

The hard sound of "c" occurs most often (cat = kat).

When "c" is followed by (a, o, u) it is sounded as "k" (hard c).

When "c" is followed by (e, i, y) it is sounded as "s" (soft c).

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