Okay, so the other day, I was watching a basketball game, and the Boston Celtics were playing. As usual, I heard the announcers say “Seltics.” And it got me thinking, again, why do we pronounce it like that when it’s spelled with a “C”? I mean, shouldn’t it be “Keltics”? It’s always bugged me a little, so I decided to finally dig into it.
First, I grabbed my phone and started Googling. You know, the usual quick searches like “Celtics pronunciation” and “why is Celtics pronounced Seltics.” I found a bunch of articles and forum discussions. It was kind of a mess, with some people saying one thing and others saying something completely different.
I spent a good hour just reading through random websites. Some talked about the history of the word “Celtic” and how it relates to different languages like Gaelic and Welsh. Apparently, the pronunciation has changed over time, and there are even different ways to say it depending on where you are.
Then, I decided to check out some videos. I figured maybe hearing people talk about it would help. I found a few explainer videos on YouTube, and they were actually pretty helpful. They talked about how the “C” sound can be hard or soft, and how the “Celtic” pronunciation with a soft “C” became more common in American English.
After watching those, I went back to the articles and started focusing on the ones that seemed more reliable, like the ones from dictionary websites or language experts. I started to piece together a better understanding. It seems like the “Seltics” pronunciation is mostly an American thing, and it’s been around for a long time. It’s not technically “wrong,” just different.
So, I finally felt like I had a decent answer. It’s not a simple explanation, and there’s a lot of history behind it. But basically, the “Seltics” pronunciation is just a common variation, especially in the US, and it’s not incorrect, just not how you might expect based on the spelling.
