# C

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Third letter of the Latin alphabet

This article is about the letter. For the programming language, see [C (programming language)](/source/C_(programming_language)). For other uses, see [C (disambiguation)](/source/C_(disambiguation)).

For [technical reasons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NCTR), "C#" and ":C" redirect here. For uses of C#, see [C-sharp](/source/C-sharp_(disambiguation)). For the keyboard symbols, see [List of emoticons](/source/List_of_emoticons). For Wikimedia Commons, see [c:](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/).

C C c Usage Writing system Latin script Type Alphabetic Language of origin Latin language Sound values [c] [k] [t͡ʃ] [t͡s] [d͡ʒ] [ʃ] [s] [ʕ] [ʔ] [θ] [ð] [ʑ] In Unicode U+0043, U+0063 Alphabetical position 3 History Development Γ γ 𐌂 C c Time period c. 700 BCE – present Descendants ç ⒞ Ⓒ ⓒ 🄒 🄫 🄯 🄲 🅒 🅲 🇨 Ȼ ₵ ₡ ¢ ℃ ∁ Sisters Г G Գ (𐡂 ࠂ ג ܓ ج) Other Associated numbers 100 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

ISO basic Latin alphabet AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz v t e

**C** in [copyright symbol](/source/Copyright_symbol)

**C** ([minuscule](/source/Letter_case): **c**) is the third [letter](/source/Letter_(alphabet)) of the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet), used in the [modern English alphabet](/source/English_alphabet), the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is [*cee*](/source/English_alphabet#Letter_names) (pronounced [/ˈsiː/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-C.wav)), plural *cees*.[1]

## History

Egyptian Phoenician gaml Western Greek Gamma Etruscan C Old Latin C (G) Latin C

"C" comes from the same letter as "G". The [Semites](/source/Semitic_people) named it [gimel](/source/Gimel). The sign is possibly adapted from an [Egyptian hieroglyph](/source/Egyptian_hieroglyphs) for a [staff sling](/source/Staff-sling), which may have been the meaning of the name *gimel*. Another possibility is that it depicted a camel, the [Semitic](/source/Semitic_languages) name for which was *gamal*. [Barry B. Powell](/source/Barry_B._Powell), a specialist in the history of writing, states "It is hard to imagine how gimel = "camel" can be derived from the picture of a camel (it may show his hump, or his head and neck!)".[2]

In the [Etruscan language](/source/Etruscan_language), [plosive consonants](/source/Plosive_consonant) had no contrastive [voicing](/source/Phonation), so the [Greek](/source/Greek_language) '[Γ](/source/Gamma)' (Gamma) was adopted into the [Etruscan alphabet](/source/Etruscan_alphabet) to represent /k/. Already in the [Western Greek alphabet](/source/Western_Greek_alphabet), [Gamma](/source/Gamma) first took a '' form in Early Etruscan, then '' in Classical Etruscan. In [Latin](/source/Latin), it eventually took the 'c' form in [Classical Latin](/source/Classical_Latin). In the earliest Latin inscriptions, the letters 'c k q' were used to represent the sounds /k/ and /ɡ/ (which were not differentiated in writing). Of these, 'q' was used to represent /k/ or /ɡ/ before a rounded vowel, 'k' before 'a', and 'c' elsewhere.[3] During the 3rd century BC, a modified character was introduced for /ɡ/, and 'c' itself was retained for /k/. The use of 'c' (and its variant 'g') replaced most usages of 'k' and 'q'. Hence, in the classical period and after, 'g' was treated as the equivalent of Greek gamma, and 'c' as the equivalent of kappa; this shows in the [romanization](/source/Romanization) of Greek words, as in 'ΚΑΔΜΟΣ', 'ΚΥΡΟΣ', and 'ΦΩΚΙΣ' came into Latin as 'cadmvs', 'cyrvs' and 'phocis', respectively.[4]

Other alphabets have letters [homoglyphic](/source/Homoglyph) to 'c' but not analogous in use and derivation, like the [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic_script) letter [Es](/source/Es_(Cyrillic)) (С, с) which derives from the lunate [sigma](/source/Sigma_(letter)).

### Later use

When the Roman alphabet was introduced into Britain, ⟨c⟩ represented only /k/, and this value of the letter has been retained in loanwords to all the [insular Celtic languages](/source/Insular_Celtic_languages): in [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language),[5] [Irish](/source/Irish_language), and [Gaelic](/source/Scottish_Gaelic_language), ⟨c⟩ represents only /k/. The [Old English Latin-based writing system](/source/Old_English_Latin_alphabet) was learned from the [Celts](/source/Celts), apparently of Ireland; hence, ⟨c⟩ in Old English also originally represented /k/; the Modern English words *kin*, *break*, *broken*, *thick*, and *seek* all come from Old English words written with ⟨c⟩: *cyn, brecan, brocen, þicc*, and *séoc*. However, during the course of the Old English period, /k/ before front vowels (/e/ and /i/) was [palatalized](/source/Palatalization_(sound_change)), having changed by the tenth century to [tʃ], though ⟨c⟩ was still used, as in *cir(i)ce, wrecc(e)a*. On the continent, meanwhile, a similar phonetic change before the same two vowels had also been going on in almost all of the Romance languages (for example, in [Italian](/source/Italian_language)).

In Vulgar Latin, /k/ became palatalized to [tʃ] in [Italy](/source/Italy) and [Dalmatia](/source/Dalmatia); in France and the [Iberian Peninsula](/source/Iberian_Peninsula), it became [ts]. Yet for these new sounds, ⟨c⟩ was still used before the letters ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩. The letter thus represented two distinct values. Subsequently, the Latin phoneme /kw/ (spelled ⟨qv⟩) de-labialized to /k/, meaning that the various Romance languages had /k/ before front vowels. In addition, [Norman](/source/Norman_language) used the letter ⟨k⟩ so that the sound /k/ could be represented by either ⟨k⟩ or ⟨c⟩, the latter of which could represent either /k/ or /ts/ depending on whether it preceded a front vowel letter or not. The convention of using both ⟨c⟩ and ⟨k⟩ was applied to the writing of English after the [Norman Conquest](/source/Norman_Conquest), causing a considerable re-spelling of the [Old English](/source/Old_English) words. Thus, while Old English *candel, clif, corn, crop*, and *cú*, remained unchanged, *cent, cǣᵹ (cēᵹ), cyng, brece*, and *sēoce*, were now (without any change of sound) spelled *Kent, keȝ, kyng, breke*, and *seoke*; even *cniht* ('knight') was subsequently changed to *kniht*, and *þic* ('thick') was changed to *thik* or *thikk*. The Old English ⟨cw⟩ was also at length displaced by the French ⟨qu⟩ so that the Old English *cwēn* ('queen') and *cwic* ('quick') became [Middle English](/source/Middle_English) *quen* and *quik*, respectively.

The sound [tʃ], to which Old English palatalized /k/ had advanced, also occurred in French, chiefly from Latin /k/ before ⟨a⟩. In French, it was represented by the digraph ⟨ch⟩, as in *champ* (from Latin *camp-um*), and this spelling was introduced into English: the [Hatton Gospels](/source/Hatton_Gospels), written c. 1160, have in Matt. i-iii, *child, chyld, riche*, and *mychel*, for the *cild, rice*, and *mycel* of the Old English version whence they were copied. In these cases, the Old English ⟨c⟩ gave way to ⟨k⟩, ⟨qu⟩ and ⟨ch⟩; on the other hand, ⟨c⟩ in its new value of /ts/ appeared largely in French words like *processiun, emperice*, and *grace* and was also substituted for ⟨ts⟩ in a few Old English words, as *miltse, bletsien*, in early Middle English *milce, blecien*. By the end of the thirteenth century, both in France and England, this sound /ts/ was de-affricated to /s/; and from that time, ⟨c⟩ has represented /s/ before front vowels either for [etymological](/source/Etymology) reasons, as in *lance*, *cent*, or to avoid the ambiguity due to the "etymological" use of ⟨s⟩ for /z/, as in *ace*, *mice*, *once*, *pence*, *defence*.

Thus, to show etymology, English spelling has *advise*, *devise* (instead of **advize*, **devize*), while *advice*, *device*, *dice*, *ice*, *mice*, *twice*, etc., do not reflect etymology; example has extended this to *hence*, *pence*, *defence*, etc., where there is no etymological reason for using ⟨c⟩. Former generations also wrote *sence* for *sense*. Hence, today, the [Romance languages](/source/Romance_languages) and [English](/source/English_language) have a common feature inherited from [Vulgar Latin](/source/Vulgar_Latin) spelling conventions where ⟨c⟩ takes on either a ["hard" or "soft"](/source/Hard_and_soft_C) value depending on the following letter.

## Use in writing systems

See also: [Hard and soft C](/source/Hard_and_soft_C)

Pronunciation of ⟨c⟩ by language Orthography Phonemes Environment Afar /ħ/ Albanian /ts/ Cypriot Arabic /ʕ/ Azeri /dʒ/ Berber /ʃ/ Bukawa /ʔ/ Catalan /k/ Except before e, i /s/ Before e, i Standard Chinese (Pinyin) /tsʰ/ Crimean Tatar /dʒ/ Cornish (Standard Written Form) /s/ Czech /ts/ Danish /k/ Except before e, i, y, æ, ø /s/ Before e, i, y, æ, ø Dutch /k/ Except before e, i, y /s/ Before e, i, y /tʃ/ Before e, i in loanwords from Italian English /k/ Except before e, i, y /s/ Before e, i, y /ʃ/ Before ea, ia, ie, io, iu Esperanto /ts/ Fijian /ð/ Filipino /k/ Except before e, i /s/ Before e, i French /k/ Except before e, i, y /s/ Before e, i, y Fula /tʃ/ Gagauz /dʒ/ Galician /k/ Except before e, i /θ/ or /s/ Before e, i German /k/ Except before ä, e, i, ö, ü, y in loanwords and names /ts/ Before ä, e, i, ö, ü, y in loanwords and names Hausa /tʃ/ Hungarian /ts/ Indonesian /tʃ/ Irish /k/ Except before e, i; or after i /c/ Before e, i; or after i Italian /k/ Except before e, i /tʃ/ Before e, i Khmer (ALA-LC) /c/ Kurmanji (Hawar) /dʒ/ Latin /k/ (and /g/ in early Latin) Latvian /ts/ Malay /tʃ/ Manding /tʃ/ Norwegian /k/ Except before e, i, y, æ, ø in loanwords and names /s/ Before e, i, y, æ, ø in loanwords and names Polish /ts/ Except before i /tɕ/ Before i Portuguese /k/ Except before e, i /s/ Before e, i Romanian /k/ Except before e, i /tʃ/ Before e, i Romansh /k/ Except before e, i /ts/ Before e, i Scottish Gaelic /kʰ/ Except before e, i; or after i /kʰʲ/ Before e, i; or after i Serbo-Croatian /ts/ Slovak /ts/ Slovene /ts/ Somali /ʕ/ Spanish /k/ Except before e, i, y /θ/ or /s/ Before e, i, y Swedish /k/ Except before e, i, y, ä, ö /s/ Before e, i, y, ä, ö Tajik /tʃ/ Tatar /ʑ/ Turkish /dʒ/ Valencian /k/ Except before e, i /s/ Before e, i Vietnamese /k/ Except word-finally /k̚/ Word-finally Welsh /k/ Xhosa /ǀ/ Yabem /ʔ/ Yup'ik /tʃ/ Zulu /ǀ/ (a click)

### English

In [English orthography](/source/English_orthography), ⟨c⟩ generally represents the "soft" value of [/s/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) before the letters ⟨e⟩ (including the Latin-derived digraphs ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩, or the corresponding ligatures ⟨æ⟩ and ⟨œ⟩), ⟨i⟩, and ⟨y⟩, and a "hard" value of [/k/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) before any other letters or at the end of a word. However, there are a number of exceptions in English: "[soccer](/source/Soccer)", "[celt](/source/Pronunciation_of_Celtic)" and "[sceptic](/source/Sceptic)" are words that have [/k/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) where [/s/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) would be expected. The "soft" ⟨c⟩ may represent the [/ʃ/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) sound in the digraph ⟨ci⟩ when this precedes a vowel, as in the words 'delicious' and 'appreciate', and also in the word "ocean" and its derivatives.

The digraph ⟨[ch](/source/Ch_(digraph))⟩ most commonly represents [/tʃ/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English), but can also represent [/k/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) (mainly in words of [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language) origin) or [/ʃ/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) (mainly in words of [French](/source/French_language) origin). For some dialects of English, it may also represent [/x/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) in words like *loch*, while other speakers pronounce the final sound as [/k/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English). The trigraph ⟨tch⟩ always represents [/tʃ/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English). The digraph ⟨ck⟩ is often used to represent the sound [/k/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) after short vowels, like in "wicket".

C is the [twelfth most frequently used letter](/source/Letter_frequency) in the English language (after [E](/source/E), [T](/source/T), [A](/source/A), [O](/source/O), [I](/source/I), [N](/source/N), [S](/source/S), [H](/source/H), [R](/source/R), [D](/source/D), and [L](/source/L)), with a frequency of about 2.8% in words.

### Other languages

In the Romance languages [French](/source/French_language), [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language), [Italian](/source/Italian_language), [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language), [Catalan](/source/Catalan_language), and [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language), ⟨c⟩ generally has a "hard" value of /k/ and a "soft" value whose pronunciation varies by language. In French, Portuguese, Catalan, and Spanish from Latin America and some places in Spain, the soft ⟨c⟩ value is /s/ as it is in English. In the Spanish spoken in most of Spain, the soft ⟨c⟩ is a [voiceless dental fricative](/source/Voiceless_dental_fricative) /θ/. In [Italian](/source/Italian_language) and [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language), the soft ⟨c⟩ is [t͡ʃ].

Germanic languages usually use ⟨c⟩ for Romance loans or digraphs, such as ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨ck⟩, but the rules vary across languages. Of all the Germanic languages, only English uses the initial ⟨c⟩ in native Germanic words like *come*. Other than English, [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) uses ⟨c⟩ the most, for most Romance loans and the digraph ⟨ch⟩. German uses ⟨c⟩ in the digraphs ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨ck⟩, and the trigraph ⟨sch⟩, but by itself only in unassimilated loanwords and proper names. [Danish](/source/Danish_language) keeps soft ⟨c⟩ in Romance words but changes hard ⟨c⟩ to ⟨k⟩. Swedish has the same rules for soft and hard ⟨c⟩ as Danish, and also uses ⟨c⟩ in the digraph ⟨ck⟩ and the very common word *och*, "and". [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language), [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans), and [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language) are the most restrictive, replacing all cases of ⟨c⟩ with ⟨k⟩ or ⟨s⟩, and reserving ⟨c⟩ for unassimilated loanwords and names.

All [Balto-Slavic languages](/source/Balto-Slavic_languages) that use the Latin alphabet, as well as [Albanian](/source/Albanian_language), [Hungarian](/source/Hungarian_language), [Pashto](/source/Pashto), several [Sami languages](/source/Sami_languages), [Esperanto](/source/Esperanto), [Ido](/source/Ido), [Interlingua](/source/Interlingua), and [Americanist phonetic notation](/source/Americanist_phonetic_notation) (and those [aboriginal languages of North America](/source/Indigenous_languages_of_North_America) whose practical orthography derives from it), use ⟨c⟩ to represent /t͡s/, the [voiceless alveolar](/source/Voiceless_alveolar_sibilant_affricate) or [voiceless dental sibilant affricate](/source/Voiceless_dental_sibilant_affricate). In [Hanyu Pinyin](/source/Hanyu_Pinyin), the standard romanization of [Mandarin Chinese](/source/Standard_Chinese), the letter represents an aspirated version of this sound, /t͡sh/.

Among non-European languages that have adopted the Latin alphabet, ⟨c⟩ represents a variety of sounds. [Yup'ik](/source/Central_Alaskan_Yup'ik_language), [Indonesian](/source/Indonesian_language), [Malay](/source/Malay_language), and a number of African languages such as [Hausa](/source/Hausa_language), [Fula](/source/Fula_language), and [Manding](/source/Manding_languages) share the soft Italian value of /t͡ʃ/. In [Azeri](/source/Azeri_language), [Crimean Tatar](/source/Crimean_Tatar_language), [Kurmanji Kurdish](/source/Northern_Kurdish), and [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language), ⟨c⟩ stands for the voiced counterpart of this sound, the [voiced postalveolar affricate](/source/Voiced_postalveolar_affricate) /d͡ʒ/. In [Yabem](/source/Yabem_language) and similar languages, such as [Bukawa](/source/Bukawa_language), ⟨c⟩ stands for a [glottal stop](/source/Glottal_stop) /ʔ/. [Xhosa](/source/Xhosa_language) and [Zulu](/source/Zulu_language) use this letter to represent the click /ǀ/. In some other African languages, such as [Berber languages](/source/Berber_Latin_alphabet#Berber_Latin_alphabet_and_the_Tifinagh_Berber_alphabet), ⟨c⟩ is used for /ʃ/. In [Fijian](/source/Fijian_language), ⟨c⟩ stands for a [voiced dental fricative](/source/Voiced_dental_fricative) /ð/, while in [Somali](/source/Somali_language) it has the value of /[ʕ](/source/Voiced_pharyngeal_fricative)/.

The letter ⟨c⟩ is also used as a transliteration of Cyrillic ⟨ц⟩ in the Latin forms of [Serbian](/source/Serbian_Latin_alphabet), [Macedonian](/source/Romanisation_of_Macedonian), and sometimes [Ukrainian](/source/Romanization_of_Ukrainian), along with the digraph ⟨ts⟩.

### Other systems

As a [phonetic](/source/Phonetic) symbol, lowercase ⟨c⟩ is the [International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) (IPA) and [X-SAMPA](/source/X-SAMPA) symbol for the [voiceless palatal plosive](/source/Voiceless_palatal_plosive), and capital ⟨C⟩ is the X-SAMPA symbol for the [voiceless palatal fricative](/source/Voiceless_palatal_fricative).

### Digraphs

There are several common digraphs with ⟨c⟩, the most common being ⟨[ch](/source/Ch_(digraph))⟩, which in some languages (such as [German](/source/German_language)) is far more common than ⟨c⟩ alone. ⟨ch⟩ takes various values in other languages.

As in English, ⟨ck⟩, with the value /k/, is often used after short vowels in other [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages) such as German and [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language) (other Germanic languages, such as Dutch and [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language), use ⟨kk⟩ instead). The digraph ⟨cz⟩ is found in Polish and ⟨cs⟩ in Hungarian, representing /t͡ʂ/ and /t͡ʃ/ respectively. The digraph ⟨sc⟩ represents /ʃ/ in Old English, Italian, and a few languages related to Italian (where this only happens before [front vowels](/source/Front_vowel), while otherwise it represents /sk/). The trigraph ⟨sch⟩ represents /ʃ/ in German.

## Other uses

Main article: [C (disambiguation)](/source/C_(disambiguation))

- In the [hexadecimal](/source/Hexadecimal) (base 16) numbering system, C is a number that corresponds to the number 12 in [decimal](/source/Decimal) (base 10) counting.

- In the [Roman numeral](/source/Roman_numeral) system, C represents 100.

- [Unit prefix](/source/Unit_prefix) c, meaning one hundredth.

## Related characters

### Ancestors, descendants and siblings

A curled C in the coat of arms of [Porvoo](/source/Porvoo)

- ⟨𐤂⟩ : [Semitic](/source/Phoenician_alphabet) letter [Gimel](/source/Gimel), from which the following symbols originally derive: - ⟨Γ⟩ ⟨γ⟩ : [Greek](/source/Greek_alphabet) letter [Gamma](/source/Gamma), from which ⟨C⟩ derives - ⟨G⟩ ⟨g⟩ : Latin letter ⟨[G](/source/G)⟩, which is derived from Latin ⟨C⟩ - ⟨Ȝ⟩ ⟨ȝ⟩ : Latin letter [Yogh](/source/Yogh), which is derived from Latin ⟨[G](/source/G)⟩

- [Phonetic alphabet](/source/Phonetic_transcription#Alphabetic) symbols related to ⟨C⟩: - ⟨[ɕ](/source/Voiceless_alveolo-palatal_fricative)⟩ : Small ⟨c⟩ with curl - ⟨ʗ⟩ : [Stretched ⟨c⟩](/source/%CA%97) - ⟨𝼏⟩ : [Stretched ⟨c⟩ with curl](/source/%F0%9D%BC%8F) – Used by Douglas Beach for a [nasal click](/source/Click_letter) in his phonetic description of [Khoekhoe](/source/Khoekhoe_language).[6] - ⟨𝼝⟩ : Small letter ⟨c⟩ with retroflex hook – Para-IPA version of the [IPA](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) retroflex tʂ.[7] - ⟨ꟲ⟩ : Modifier letter capital ⟨c⟩ – Used to mark tone for the [Chatino](/source/Chatino_language) orthography in [Oaxaca, Mexico](/source/Oaxaca%2C_Mexico); used as a generic transcription for a falling tone; also used in para-[IPA](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) notation.[8]

- ⟨[ᶜ](/source/%E1%B6%9C)⟩ : Modifier letter small c[9]

- ⟨[ᶝ](/source/%E1%B6%9D)⟩ : Modifier letter small ⟨c⟩ with curl[9]

- ⟨ᴄ⟩ : Small capital ⟨c⟩ is used in the [Uralic Phonetic Alphabet](/source/Uralic_Phonetic_Alphabet).[10]

- ⟨Ꞔ⟩ ⟨ꞔ⟩ : ⟨C⟩ with palatal hook, used for writing [Mandarin Chinese](/source/Mandarin_Chinese) using the early draft version of [pinyin](/source/Pinyin) romanization during the mid-1950s.[11]

- ⟨C⟩ with [diacritics](/source/Diacritic): [Ć ć](/source/%C4%86) [Ĉ ĉ](/source/%C4%88) [Č č](/source/%C4%8C) [Ċ ċ](/source/%C4%8A) [Ḉ ḉ](/source/%E1%B8%88) [Ƈ ƈ](/source/%C6%87) [C̈ c̈](/source/C%CC%88) [Ȼ ȼ](/source/%C8%BB) [Ç ç](/source/%C3%87) Ꞔ [ꞔ](/source/%EA%9F%84) [Ꞓ ꞓ](/source/%EA%9E%92)

- ⟨Ↄ⟩ ⟨ↄ⟩ : [Claudian letters](/source/Claudian_letters)[12]

### Derived ligatures, abbreviations, signs and symbols

- © : [copyright symbol](/source/%C2%A9)

- °C : [degree Celsius](/source/Degree_Celsius)

- ¢ : [cent](/source/%C2%A2)

- ₡ : [colón (currency)](/source/%E2%82%A1)

- ₢ : [Brazilian cruzeiro (currency)](/source/%E2%82%A2)

- ₵ : [Ghana cedi (currency)](/source/%E2%82%B5)

- ₠ : [European Currency Unit](/source/European_Currency_Unit) CE

- C {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} } : [blackboard bold](/source/Blackboard_bold) C, denoting the [complex numbers](/source/Complex_number)

- ℭ : [blackletter C](/source/%E2%84%AD)

- Ꜿ ꜿ : [Medieval](/source/Middle_Ages) abbreviation for [Latin](/source/Latin) syllables *con*- and *com*-, and [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language) -*us* and -*os*.[13]

## Other representations

### Computing

The Latin letters ⟨C⟩ and ⟨c⟩ have [Unicode](/source/Unicode) encodings U+0043 C LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C and U+0063 c LATIN SMALL LETTER C. These are the same [code points](/source/Code_point) as those used in [ASCII](/source/ASCII) and [ISO 8859](/source/ISO%2FIEC_8859). There are also [precomposed character](/source/Precomposed_character) encodings for ⟨C⟩ and ⟨c⟩ with diacritics, for most of those listed [above](#Related_characters); the remainder are produced using [combining diacritics](/source/Combining_diacritic).

Variant forms of the letter have unique code points for specialist use: the [alphanumeric symbols set](/source/Mathematical_Alphanumeric_Symbols) in mathematics and science, [voiceless palatal](/source/Voiceless_palatal_stop) sounds in linguistics, and [halfwidth and fullwidth forms](/source/Halfwidth_and_fullwidth_forms) for legacy [CJK](/source/CJK_characters) font compatibility. The Cyrillic [homoglyph](/source/Homoglyph) of the Latin ⟨C⟩ has a separate encoding: U+0421 С [CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER ES](/source/Es_(Cyrillic)).

### Other

NATO phonetic Morse code Charlie ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ⓘ

Signal flag Flag semaphore American manual alphabet (ASL fingerspelling) British manual alphabet (BSL fingerspelling) Braille dots-14 Unified English Braille

## See also

- [Hard and soft C](/source/Hard_and_soft_C)

- [Speed of light](/source/Speed_of_light), *c*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "C" *Oxford English Dictionary,* 2nd edition (1989); *Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged* (1993); "cee", *op. cit.*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Powell, Barry B. (March 27, 2009). [*Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization*](https://books.google.com/books?id=PZ2Gr3d9X2UC&q=Gimel+shaped+like+a+camel%27s+neck&pg=PA182). Wiley Blackwell. p. 182. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1405162562](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1405162562).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Sihler, Andrew L. (1995). [*New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin*](https://books.google.com/books?id=IeHmqKY2BqoC) (illustrated ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 21. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-508345-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-508345-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_4-0)** Murray, James A. H. (1893). "C". In van Leeuwen, Steven H. (ed.). [*C. World English Historical Dictionary*](https://wehd.com/13/C.html). *A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles* (Online published 2025 ed.). New York: MacMillan. Retrieved August 18, 2025. {{[cite encyclopedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_encyclopedia)}}: |website= ignored ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Reading Middle Welsh -- 29 Medieval Spelling"](https://web.archive.org/web/20240204210442/https://www.mit.edu/people/dfm/canol/chap29.html). *www.mit.edu*. Archived from [the original](https://www.mit.edu/people/dfm/canol/chap29.html) on February 4, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Miller, Kirk; Sands, Bonny (July 10, 2020). ["L2/20-115R: Unicode request for additional phonetic click letters"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20115r-click-letters.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Miller, Kirk (January 11, 2021). ["L2/21-041: Unicode request for additional para-IPA letters"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21041-add-para-ipa-ltr.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Miller, Kirk; Cornelius, Craig (September 25, 2020). ["L2/20-251: Unicode request for modifier Latin capital letters"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20251-mod-latin.pdf) (PDF).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-L204132_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-L204132_9-1) Constable, Peter (April 19, 2004). ["L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Everson, Michael](/source/Michael_Everson); et al. (March 20, 2002). ["L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [West, Andrew](/source/Andrew_West_(linguist)); Chan, Eiso; [Everson, Michael](/source/Michael_Everson) (January 16, 2017). ["L2/17-013: Proposal to encode three uppercase Latin letters used in early Pinyin"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17013-n4782-latin.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Everson, Michael (August 12, 2005). ["L2/05-193R2: Proposal to add Claudian Latin letters to the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2005/05193r2-n2960r2-claudian.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Everson, Michael; Baker, Peter; Emiliano, António; Grammel, Florian; Haugen, Odd Einar; Luft, Diana; Pedro, Susana; Schumacher, Gerd; Stötzner, Andreas (January 30, 2006). ["L2/06-027: Proposal to add Medievalist characters to the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf) (PDF).

## External links

[Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has the text of the *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica)* (9th ed.) article  ***[C](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/C)***.

[Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has the text of the [1911 *Encyclopædia Britannica*](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition) article "[C](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/C)".

- Media related to [C](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C) at Wikimedia Commons

- The dictionary definition of [*C*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/C) at Wiktionary

- The dictionary definition of [*c*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/c) at Wiktionary

v t e Latin script History Spread Romanization Roman numerals Ligatures Alphabets (list) Classical Latin alphabet ISO basic Latin alphabet Phonetic alphabets International Phonetic Alphabet X-SAMPA Spelling alphabet Letters (list) Letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Additional Latin letters Æ æ Ɑ ɑ Ʌ ʌ Ꞵ ꞵ Ð ð Ɛ ɛ Ə ə Ǝ ə Ɣ ɣ Ƣ ƣ Ɩ ɩ Ɥ ɥ Ꟛ ꟛ Ŋ ŋ Œ œ Ɔ ɔ Ɤ ɤ Kʼ ĸ Ʀ ʀ ẞ ß Ʃ ʃ Ɯ ɯ Ʊ ʊ Ꞷ ꞷ Ʋ ʋ Ƿ ƿ Ȝ ȝ ϴ θ Ʒ ʒ Ƹ ƹ Þ þ Ȣ ȣ Ꭓ ꭓ Ɂ ʔ ɂ ꟎ ʕ ꟏ ǀ ǁ ǂ ǃ ʘ ʻ ʼ Ꞌ ꞌ Ƨ ƨ Ꜫ ꜫ Ꜭ ꜭ Ƽ ƽ Ƅ ƅ 7 Letter C with diacritics Ćć Ĉĉ Čč C̈c̈ Ċċ Çç C̆c̆ Ḉḉ Ç̌ç̌ Ȼȼ Ꞓꞓ Ꞔꞔ Ƈƈ ɕ 𝼝 Multigraphs Digraphs Ch Dz Dž Gh IJ Lj Ll Ly Nh Nj Ny Sh Sz Th Trigraphs dzs eau Tetragraphs ough Keyboard layouts (list) QWERTY QWERTZ AZERTY Dvorak Colemak BÉPO Neo Historical standards ISO/IEC 646 Western Latin character sets Current standards Unicode DIN 91379: Unicode subset for Europe Lists Precomposed Latin characters in Unicode Letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering List of typographical symbols and punctuation marks Diacritics Palaeography

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.